


The Troublesome Trio

by spoonfulofsexy



Series: The Troublesome Trio [1]
Category: Captain America (1944), Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1940s, Action/Adventure, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Jealousy, M/M, Pain, Polyamory, Reader-Insert, Romance, Sad, Super Soldier Serum, Suspense, suggest smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 17:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 56,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6528973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoonfulofsexy/pseuds/spoonfulofsexy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reader meets a pair of trouble making boys.  When she met them, she had no idea how much of an impact they would have on her life.  The story of three best friends having fun and meeting new obstacles everyday. Who knows what kind of trouble the reader will follow them into.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this was my first work, so sorry if it lacks or has grammatical errors!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader walks down the streets of Brooklyn with one goal, but instead gets in a fight, that wasn’t hers from the start.

Rain trickled off your black umbrella. It was a very rainy week in Brooklyn and the fact that it was cold didn’t help. Luckily, you had your favorite raspberry red jacket on, that never failed to keep you warm. You especially loved the big, round buttons that ran down the front of it. To make your outfit even better you sported your most comfortable pair of Oxfords. 

Even though it had been raining all day you were not going to let the weather ruin your mood! You were off to get a muffin from your favorite bakery a few blocks down from your family’s apartment. There weren’t many people out on the sidewalks besides a few newspaper boys and venders.

A boy that seemed about 18 was shouting underneath an umbrella, “Anything Goes opens at the Alvin Theatre in NYC, November 21, 1934! Get tickets before it’s too late!”

“Why must he yell the year if it is 1934?” You thought to yourself as you carefully avoided big puddles.

Your (E/C) eyes lit up when you saw the bakery’s sign only a block away. Nothing was going to stop you from getting that banana nut muffin! Well, that’s what you thought, until you heard a ruckus down the alleyway you were about to pass. Your eyebrows furrowed with curiosity as you peaked your head around the corner of a building.

A short, skinny boy was being pushed into a bunch of metal trash cans by a boy way too big to be picking a fight with him. You were always told by your mother to never put your nose into something that wasn’t your business. But to be honest your mother told you a bunch of nonsense like, “A woman’s place is always at home” or “A woman does not fight back; she always agrees with the men”. Whenever she said something like that you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. You were not going to become some trophy wife! Even though you were only 16 your mother always tried to set you up with young men, it was disgusting. To be honest you just wanted to adventure and NOT adhere to men.

The sound of skin hitting skin pulls you out of your thoughts. You looked back down the alleyway and the poor kid is getting punched around by that big ox. This just couldn’t be right, what did that guy do to deserve such a beating?

You bit your lip and looked around with worry, somebody has got to come and save the kid! Of course, there wasn’t a soul outside at the moment. You took a deep breath and took it upon yourself to intervene.

The sound of your shoes hitting the stone alley echoed off the walls as you shouted, “Hey what do you think you’re doing to him?!”  
The big one held the tiny blonde by the shirt and said, “I’m teaching this chump a lesson!” Then he shoved him into more trashcans, making them fall over and cause a racket. 

“What did he do to deserve that?” You said sternly, putting a hand on your hip.

“Hey, why don’t you mind your own business?” The bully shot back.

“Well if you must know, this actually is my business! That’s my fella!” You shouted back. You don’t know why you said that because it was a big lie but maybe it would help.

The blonde looked at you with confusion as he sat still on the ground next to the trash cans.  
You mouthed to him, “Go. With. It”, before the jerk turned around.

“Your fella, huh? Well I’m glad you showed up. I always like having an audience!” The boy gloated as he raised his fist to hit the poor kid again.

Before you could stop yourself you kicked him behind the knee making him fall to the ground, then you closed your umbrella and smacked him in the head with it a few times. Quickly, you ran over to the blonde and grabbed him, pulling him off the cold, wet ground.

“Come on, we’ve gotta go!” You said as you held his hand, ready to run.

“Why’d you do that?” He asked, still wearing that confused look on his face.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back but right now really isn’t the time for that. We oughta get going!” Your words were rushed out of your mouth. You ran about 5 feet until you realized that the he let go of your hand and was still in the same place he was a few seconds ago.

“What are you doing?” You huffed out.

“I don’t run away from a fight.” He said calmly with a blank face.

“You’ve got moxie, but that’s really dumb.” You rolled your eyes at the stranger’s stubbornness.

“That’s what I always tell him!” A new voice echoed down the alley.

You turned around to see a brunette sauntering towards the blonde. He eyes you up and down as he passes you, making your cheeks turn just as red as your jacket.

“God Steve, what am I going to tell your ma this time?” The brunette asks with concern, as he checks out Steve’s bruised face.

You see out of the corner of your eye the bully getting up and trying to run away. You don’t know what has gotten into you today but you chased after him, umbrella in hand. 

“Come back you scaredy-cat! How about I teach ya’ a lesson?!” You chased him right out of the alley back into the street. “Yeah that’s what I thought! Pick on somebody your own size next time!”

You heard the brunette ask Steve, “Who’s that?” as you walked back to them.

“My name is (Y/N), I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just couldn’t stand to watch that guy beat on ya like that.” You said softly, suddenly becoming all shy.

“Well thanks for looking after this punk; the name is Bucky by the way”, the brunette said while extending his hand out to you.

You took his hand and shook it, he gave you a warm, charming smile. “Man was this guy cute”, you thought to yourself, returning a smile.

“Yeah, thanks for saving me back there, name’s Steve Rogers” the blonde said while shoving his hands in his pockets.

“It was really no problem, it’s a shame I broke my umbrella though. My ma is gonna kill me.” You said while inspecting the bent wires of your umbrella.

“Steve could fix that right up for ya, couldn’t you Steve?” Bucky boasted while putting an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“Uh, I could try”, said Steve.

“Oh no it’s fine!” You tried to decline but Bucky instantly shot back, “Nonsense! You can come back to Steve’s place with us!”

“Yeah, my ma wouldn’t care if you stayed a bit.” Steve reassured.

“Well, alright, I’ll just give my parents a call when we get there.” You followed the two boys out of the alley, then you walked next to Steve when you got back onto the sidewalk.

What you didn’t know was after this day, you would form an unbreakable bond with Steve and Bucky. People would soon refer to you guys as, the troublesome trio.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been a week since the reader heroically beat a bully on the head with an umbrella to save a tiny stranger. Now she has become friends with the trouble maker and his charming best friend.

“So what do you guys like to do for fun?” You asked as you plopped down on the plush floral patterned couch at Steve’s apartment. 

“Well it’s currently 5 o’clock, we could go out to a theatre to catch a movie?” Steve offered as he sat next to you.

“Nah, we did that last week! How about we have a night out on the town and have some fun?! Bucky threw up his arms with excitement at his idea.

“Buck, Brooklyn is a city not a town.” Steve snickered at his friend.

You laughed at Steve’s smartass comment. It has only been a week since you first met the duo, and instantly you guys clicked. You found out that Steve and Bucky have been best friends since elementary and that they have been inseparable since then. Also, you found out that Steve gets in a lot of fights, the hard way of course. In the amount of 7 days of knowing Steve, he has gotten himself in 3 fights already. Each time both Bucky and you would come to the rescue, and then you would take him back home to patch him up. It was funny how much of an ear full Bucky would give him. You loved watching the two boys interact with each other, it was obvious how much the two cared for each other. If Steve were to even cough or sneeze Buck would freak out and instantly make sure he was okay. It was pretty adorable, you would call him mama Buck to bother him sometimes.

“Alright you punk, anyway we should go out maybe grab some dinner?” Bucky sent a glare towards Steve.

“I think that’s a great idea! I can pay!” You jumped up and went to get your coat.

Bucky quickly raced you to your coat and snatched it right when you were about to grab it. “You are not paying for it! We are gentlemen and we will treat you!”

“Bucky, my family is stinking rich and we’ve got too much money for our own good. Plus am I not allowed to take my fellas out to dinner?” You said with a wink and grabbed your black coat back.

Bucky sighed and bowed his head down in defeat. He looked at Steve for back up but Steve just shrugged his shoulders with raised eyebrows. “Really , now you decide not to pick a fight? Alright, fine you can pay, but you better believe I’m getting the most pricey thing there.” 

“Anything for mama Bucky” You laughed and threw Steve’s jacket at him.

Bucky groaned at the nickname, but Steve seemed to think it was funny. All three of you put on your jackets and shoes and were ready to leave.

“Ma, Bucky, (Y/N), and I are going out for food!” Steve yelled out to his mom who was in her room. 

She came out to tell us goodbye, “Alright, you three stay out of trouble. I’m mostly talking to you Steven.”

“Don’t worry Mrs. Rogers I’ll keep them in line” You said with a chuckle.

“Good, I trust you (Y/N). Come home before nine, ya hear me Steve?”

“Yes m’am!” Steve waved goodbye and we left. 

The three of us were greeted with the damp, chilly air. 

“So where should we go?” You asked.

“How about the Delight Diner, that isn’t too far.” Bucky suggested as you three walked down the crowded sidewalk.

It was rush hour and that meant crowded streets for Brooklyn. Bucky pulled you in by the waist and put his other arm around Steve’s shoulder. Blush crept up your cheeks when you felt Bucky’s hand rest on your waist, but you knew he was just being protective over you and that it meant nothing. You guys were consumed by a flow of people, you felt like a sardine with all those people touching you.

It felt like it took forever for you to reach the diner. When you arrived you were seated at a booth, Steve and Bucky sat across from you. A pretty blonde waitress with the greenest eyes you have ever laid eyes on came to take your orders. Bucky couldn’t keep his eyes off of her the whole time, but she was way too old for him. All three of you had burgers and sodas, even though it was filling, your mind was set on dessert. 

When the kind waitress took your dinner plates away you leaned back; stretched your arms and placed your hands behind your head. “It’s dessert time boys!” you said smugly. 

“Oh what kind of dessert, (Y/N)?” Bucky asked, adding a wink at the end. 

“BUUUCCCKKK” Steve elbowed Bucky in the side.

“C’mon Steve it was a joke” He rubbed the spot where Steve jabbed him.

You laughed at Bucky, “Not that kind of dessert...... yet.” You winked and waited for both of their reactions.

Steve’s face turned red and he rubbed the back of his head. Bucky on the other hand smirked and leaned forward on the table, “What are we waiting for doll?”

You cracked up at how different this pair was, “Bucky I’m joking! Anyway we are getting ourselves some pie!” You said with enthusiasm.

Bucky’s face instantly dropped and he sat back. He pouted like a little kid who was denied candy.

“Do they have apple pie?! That’s my favorite!” Steve’s face lit up at the idea of the soft apples with cinnamon.

“Absolutely! How does apple pie sound Buck?” You smiled at him.

“Well it’s not what I had in mind, buuuuuut I could go for some pie!”

You kindly asked your waitress, Nancy, for three slices of pie and glasses of milk. It was eaten in a matter of minutes, now you were officially full. It was only seven by the time you were finished with everything.

“So wanna go over to that park down the block?” Bucky offered, as you exited the diner. 

The sun was almost finished setting and the sky was filled with beautiful purples, reds, and oranges.

You pulled your perfectly curled (H/C) out from your coat as you stared at the sky. “Wow the sunset looks amazing tonight.”

Bucky’s mouth formed into an “O” shape and said, “The colors are gorgeous”. His face instantly fell with sympathy and he looked at Steve.

Steve saw Bucky look at him and he looked back down at his feet with a little pout. 

Of course, you didn’t miss this exchange and you were confused, “Steve, what’s the matter?”

“I’m color blind, I just wish I could know how beautiful it really was.” He kicked at a few pebbles near his foot.

You looked at Bucky with your eyebrows furrowed with shock, you didn’t know Steve was color blind. If you did you wouldn’t have brought it up! “Oh Steve, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s fine, now lets get to this park before it’s too dark.”

You could tell Steve wasn’t comfortable talking about it so you just let it go, that poor boy has so many problems. Your heart couldn’t help but ache with sympathy; he was such a kind person, he didn’t deserve any of it.

Bucky found a nice bench for the three of you to sit on in the cute, little park. You all exchanged a bunch of silly stories; Bucky always had the best ones. They were so funny that there was no way they could have been real, but he was very convincing.

The laughter between you guys died down to silence, so you asked, “Steve, why don’t you run away from fights? Especially the ones you know you can’t win.” You looked at him with soft eyes; he was sat between you and Bucky.

Steve tensed up a bit until you placed a caring hand on his knee. “Well if you run they never let you stop. If you stand your ground and push back, they can’t say no forever.”

“Plus he has us! Why would he have to run when we are there to kick some butt!” Bucky put his arm around Steve and squeezed him. 

Steve’s frown instantly turned into a sweet smile, “You guys promise not to leave me?”

You saw the shock in Bucky’s face, like the words physically hurt him. “Of course Stevie, have I ever left you alone?”

“No...” Steve sounded ashamed for even questioning Bucky’s friendship.

You grabbed Steve’s right hand with your left hand. You stuck out your pinkie on your right hand, “I pinkie promise to have your back. I said it the first day we met, remember?”

Steve hooked his pinkie with yours; you both exchanged heartfelt smiles until Bucky interrupted. “Alright it’s getting late, let’s walk you home (Y/N)”

All that food has really hit you and you couldn’t possibly imagine walking down ten blocks. Steve and Bucky got up from the bench and started walking away until they realized you were still on the bench.

“C.mon doll, we aren’t gettin any younger.” Bucky said.

“BUUUUCKKKKYY” you whined.

“whhhhaaaat?” he mimicked your tone.

“Carry me? If I walk I may explode!” You exaggerated. You made an explosion motion with your hands and added some sound effects with your mouth.

Bucky rubbed his hand over his face, “Fine, but you owe me!” 

He turned his back to you and out stretched his arms to his sides. You put both hands on his shoulders and jumped up, instantly wrapping your legs around his waist. He tucked his hands underneath your thighs and pulled you up high onto his back, making you hop up a bit. 

“Thanks Bucky ducky” you thanked him with a quick smooch on the cheek. You felt bad if you left Steve out. That is like choosing which stuffed animal to sleep with!! You beckoned Steve over, “C’mon you can have a lil smooch too Stevie”.

Steve’s cheeks turned a light shade of red as he walked over to you. You leaned down as far as you could so he wouldn’t have to go on his tippy toes. His cheek was baby soft on your lips, and you giggled when you pulled away.

“Onward my trusty stead!” You jokingly ordered Bucky with an outstretched arm.

“Oh boy, you are such a handful” Bucky sighed out as he started to walk.

“Well good thing you and Steve both have two hands!” You confidently said.

It was calming to be carried around like that. You rested your head on the back of Bucky’s neck and turned your head so you could watch Steve. Boy were you in trouble, you loved these two trouble making boys and you have only known them for a week.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a very special day for the reader, and she plans to make it unforgettable for her best friend.

It was a very special day, not only was it Independence Day, which was your favorite holiday next to Christmas. On this day, July 4, 1936, Steve would be 18!! That means you had to go all out to make this the best birthday ever!! If you fail, you don’t think you will be able to live with yourself. Bucky and you have devised a plan for this, of course, you had a little help from your father. 

Your father was a scientist, and a very good friend with Howard Stark. A few months a go you asked your dad if he could make special fireworks for Steve’s birthday, and he happily obliged. You were his little girl and he would do anything for you, but he didn’t raise you to be a spoiled brat, like many of the girls you grew up with.

The day was going smoothly, you had just picked up the birthday cake, and dropped it off at your house. You knew Steve would love it, it was angel cake with strawberry filling in between each layer. 

Now you had to go and get to Steve’s house before he woke up, so you could have the pleasure of waking him up. You have gotten very close with Steve over the past 2 years. Bucky and Steve would always come over to wake you up, now it was pay back. Although since it is Steve’s birthday, you’ll do it nicely.

There was a beautiful breeze that made your white, red, and blue floral dress flutter as you walked on the side walk. You had on red heels and a sun hat to match your ensemble. Man did you look cute, you even got flattery stares as you walked by.

You lightly knocked on the door of Steve’s apartment, careful not to be too loud.

Mrs. Rogers greeted you as she opened the door. She was like a second mom to you, so you came over often. She knew about the little party you were planning for Steve, so she didn’t question your appearance at their home at 8 in the morning.

“Good morning Mrs. Rogers, Steve is still asleep right?” You whispered to her as you took off your heels and set them next to the door.

“Yeah, James made him stay up late last night so he would sleep in.” She said as she pulled you into a hug.

“Great! I also brought some muffins for breakfast!” You handed her the bag of delicious muffins you picked up on the way there.

“They smell lovely, thank you (Y/N)!” She placed the bag on the kitchen table and went back to folding laundry.

“No problem!” You took off your hat and set it on the coffee table, before continuing your “mission”.

Now you made your way down a tiny hall to Steve’s bedroom. You took each step on the balls of your feet, making sure not to step on any creaking floorboards. You slowly turned the knob to Steve’s room and you opened the door wide enough to peek your head in. Both Bucky and Steve slept in the same bed, they looked so adorable that you couldn’t help but let an “aw” escape your lips. 

One of Bucky’s legs hung off the bed and another arm was laid across Steve’s shirtless chest. Steve was laying on his back like a starfish and he was snoring like crazy, but to be honest it was kinda cute. The blanket was barely on top of them anymore.

You tip toed your way to the bed, and you bit your lip so you wouldn’t giggle. You’ve come this far, can’t ruin the plan already. Gently, you laid yourself in between Steve and Bucky on the bed. You turned to your side so you could face Steve and have your back to Bucky. You admired how beautiful Steve really was. He had the longest eyelashes that you envied and you loved that little bump on his nose from where it has been broken in the past. Lightly, you brushed his blonde hair off his forehead and traced your finger down his nose and booped it at the end.

“Wakey wakey, Stevie!” You sang in a whispered voice to him.

He stirred a little then his mouth tugged up on the left.

You took his face in your hand and squished it so his looked like a fish. “Wake up sleepy head, guess what today is?!” You gently moved his head from side to side.

He groaned and grabbed your wrist to make you stop moving his head. “Independence day?” he said in a raspy voice, that never failed to make your heart flutter.

Suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped around your torso. Bucky squeezed your body against him, that made you yelp in surprise. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE!” Bucky yelled.

Steve slightly jumped at the surprising change of volume, “Bucky you don’t have’ta yell.” He rolled over to his side and put his pillow on top of his head. 

Bucky snuggled his face against the crown of your head, making you smile to yourself. You then put your arms around Steve’s body, copying what Bucky had done to you. In one swift motion you grabbed Steve, and pulled him so close that your bodies were touching. You pressed the left side of your face against his back and said, “Happy Birthday Steven Grant Rogers.”

Steve intertwined his fingers with your right hand, while your left hand laid on top of Bucky’s, that was resting on your stomach. 

The three of you laid there for a little longer until you heard a stomach growl, you laughed and said, “Well somebody is hungry, I brought muffins for you fellas.”

Bucky instantly shot up and gasped, “MUFFINS?! why didn’t you tell me sooner! I’m starving!” He got out of bed in only his boxer shorts and ran to the kitchen. 

You heard Mrs. Rogers in the other room gasp and say, “James, why don’t you have any clothes on?!”

Bucky answered back, “Sorry Mrs. Rogers but I’m starving and I gotta eat now!”

Both you and Steve laughed at the conversation going on in the kitchen. Steve sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. 

“So what do you have planned for today Steven?” you asked, giving him a mischievous grin.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” he sent a side smile at you.

“Psht what, why do you say that?” you pretended not to be nervous.

“Because I know you, and knowing you. You would never let my 18th birthday go un celebrated.” He said confidently as he got out of bed and pulled a shirt on over his head.

“Well too bad, I decided NOT to do something because I knew you would think I did!” God were you an awful liar.

“What ever you say (Y/N).” With that he exited his room to join Bucky.

You slapped your hand against your forehead, “Man I need to work on my lying skills” you muttered to yourself.

You pushed yourself off the bed and went to put on your heels. “Well I better get going, got lots of stuff to do today. Sorry I can’t stick around for your birthday Stevie.” You put on your most fake sympathetic face you could.

“It’s okay (Y/N), we can go see the fireworks together later, right?” Steve looked at you with puppy dog eyes.

“I’m afraid not, my family is having a party and they insist I be there.” You had to use every ounce in your fiber not to say you were actually planning something for him when you saw the sadness in his eyes.

“Oh that’s alright, next year maybe.” He took a sad bite out of his blueberry muffin.

“I promise next year”, you walked over to the two boys and placed a kiss on Steve’s cheek, “happy birthday”.

“Don’t forget about me!” Bucky gasped and pointed his cheek out towards you.

You rolled your eyes with a laugh, “Well you are not the birthday boy, but since I love you both equally, I will give you one too.” You walked over and gave a quick peck to Bucky. Then you left to continue getting everything ready for later.

~ 9 Hours Later ~

Everything seemed about ready for Steve and Bucky’s arrival. You had a cute little picnic set up for the three of you. It was at the park you guys always hung out at, that was only a block away from Delight’s Diner. There was the cliche blanket and basket set up on a nice hill that had a view of the entire park. You also had lanterns set around the blanket for when it got dark.

The boys were bound to show up any minute, you invited the parents to come down later for Steve’s surprise firework show. 

You heard Steve’s voice coming up the hill. “Buck why are we coming up here? The firework show is all the way across the city, we are never going to get a good view from here!”

“Will you just be quiet for a minute!” Bucky groaned at Steve’s nagging. 

Steve turned silent when we saw you sitting on the blanket with a huge grin on your face. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE!!” You jumped up from your spot and gave him the biggest hug you could give.

He instantly embraced you and wrapped his arms around you. “I thought you said you had a party to be at.” He raised an eyebrow and gave you a questioning look.

“I may or may not have lied.” You cringed at the idea of hurting him earlier.

He did a dramatic gasp, “ And to think I actually believed you!” 

You shook your head and laughed. You grabbed the boys’ hands and led them to the blanket to sit down. 

“I grabbed some burgers on the way here and I brought my mom’s potato salad that I know you like!” You grabbed the basket and set it in the center of the three of you. 

Once all the food and drinks were out you guys instantly dug in. You all sat in silence admiring the sunset until you had an idea. “Steve, I may not be ‘the right partner’ but I would really like to give you a birthday dance.”

“There isn’t even any music playing!” 

“Cmon Stevie pleaaaassse!” you gave him puppy eyes and got down on your knees.

“Ah geez fine (Y/N)” He out stretched his hand to you and you kindly took it.

The two of you talked and swayed to the non existent music while Bucky napped on the blanket. The dance soon escalated to silly dance movements and before you know it, you guys were spinning around in a circle. 

Steve was cracking up as you giggled hysterically. Your loosely curled hair swung in the wind as your dress fluttered around you. You were to busy laughing that you didn’t notice that it was dark outside. 

You saw a bunch of lights about 20 feet away from the bottom of the hill. Then you remembered that was the signal you and your dad agreed on for when he was going to set up the fireworks.

You stopped spinning with Steve and grabbed him to sit on the blanket. Bucky was already awake and he was smiling at you two when you came over. 

“what’s going on?” Steve asked suspiciously.

“You’ll see.” Bucky said as he pulled Steve into the side of him.

You snuggled up to the side of Steve and rested your head on his shoulder.

Suddenly a bright light shot up into the sky and bursted with in seconds. It looked like somebody threw stars into the black sky. Another followed but this time it was a bright red color. This time three shot off at once, each one was a different color.

Steve was completely aw struck, he has never seen fireworks up this close before, or this big. The purples, blues, and greens, lit up Steve’s and Bucky’s faces. Bucky pulled Steve a little closer when a big boom echoed throughout the park. 

Time for the finally, lines of fireworks went off at once, lighting up the sky with beautiful sparkles and colors. Then the rockets exploded making the letters SGR illuminate the sky.

Steve gasped when he realized what the letters stood for. “(Y/N), did you have something to do with this?”

“Of course I did! You didn’t really think I only did a picnic, did you?!” You put a hurt look on your face.

‘NO, I just… it was amazing, thank you so much (Y/N)” Steve pulled you into a bone crushing hug and kissed the top of your head.

“Got room for one more?” Bucky asked, shuffling his way over to you.

“There’s always room for you Buck” You said as you pulled him into a three-way hug.

“You know what?…” you said quietly.

“what?” they both said in unison. 

You snuggled more into the two chest of your best friends, “I really love you dopes.” 

Bucky placed a kiss on the side of your head, “We love you too (Y/N)”, said Steve.


	4. Chapter 4

Playing hide and seek at midnight in the city sounded like a great idea!!! Sike.... It was an awful idea nor was it even your idea ! Technically, you weren't actually playing hide and seek. You were looking for Steve and Bucky, but you would like to think it was just a game.

They hadn't come back to your apartment, and that worried you. They would never stay out this late and they would atleast tell you if they were. You were furious that they would do something like this to you. They knew how much you worried about them during the day, imagine how bad it was at this time of night!

You grumbled to yourself as you pulled on some boots and threw on your coat. Autumn nights could get cold, and you were not freezing your ass off tonight.

You made your way down the dark street, there wasn't anybody out except a few drunkards. You made sure to be cautious and stay aware of your surroundings. It wasn't safe for a woman to be walking around alone, you should've brought your trusty umbrella to use as a weapon.

It has been an hour since you first left the apartment and there was no sign of the boys anywhere. This worried you, the thought of never finding them made you sick to your stomach.

As you walked farther down the street, the environment seemed to get creepier by the second. The street lights started to flicker, and there was the sound of a baby crying coming from one of the buildings. You tried to brush it off and just try to continue walking. You hid in your jacket, thinking that would keep you safe from anything happening.

"Get yourself together (Y/N), everything is okay." You whispered to yourself.

As if you spoke too soon, you felt a sharp pain in the back of your head. You yelped, and staggered. 

A pair of hands grabbed your arms and yanked you into an alley (of course). You kicked and thrashed hoping you could get away before anything bad could happen. This seemed to annoy the attacker so they threw you onto the ground. Your head hit the ground, causing a searing pain to throb throughout your head. When you thought you could get a break, you were forced onto your knees.

You gasped when you saw what was in front of you. Steve and Bucky were laying on the ground all beaten and bloodied. You tried to scream their names but the words were caught in your throat. You wanted to go over to them but when you got up you were forced back to the ground.

The alley was poorly lit, but in the dim light you could see tears running down Steve's face. That broke your heart, you would rather die than see that boy shed a single tear.

"What did you do to them?!" You cried out to the man with a mask. Tears ran down your face faster the longer you waited for an answer.

Steve and Bucky looked up when they heard your voice.

“(Y/N)?” was all Steve could get out.

“(Y/N) you need to leave and save yourself... please.” Bucky’s voice was harsh and sounded pained. You saw tears start to leave his eyes when he made eye contact with you.

"Well isn't it obvious,I had to lure you in some how,”A menacing deep voice stated.

"Lure me in? What do you want from me?!" Your heart started raising, you were the reason your best friends were in pain.

"Aren't you the daughter of Howard Stark’s partner?"

"Why does that matter!?" You shouted, you couldn't think with everything going on in your head.

"That wasn't the answer I was looking for" he said and he walked over to Bucky and started beating him with the wooden bat he had in his hands.

Bucky curled himself into a ball, he cried out with each hit. He didn’t even try to protect himself, poor Bucky was already hurting so much.

You jumped up and ran over to stop the man, you grabbed his arm but he just pushed you back to the ground. He used so much force that you fell onto your back.

“STOP!!” you shouted at the top of your lungs.

The masked man, dropped down to your level and grabbed your throat. His strength caught you off guard as he lifted you with one hand, and slammed you against a brick wall. You winced at the impact and tried to pry your throat away from his strong hand.

“You’re rich aren’t you?” His face was only inches away from yours; the mask resembled a skull. It was black where the eyes should be and it was like you were looking into a void of nothingness.

You couldn’t reply to his question, you were more focused on trying to breath, as his hand was cutting off your airway. 

He smashed you into the wall again, “I know you’re loaded with money, and I want you to give me all of it.”

Your (E/C) eyes widened, and you gasped, “I don’t have any money on me.”

“You’re lying!” He squeezed your throat even harder, you surely thought you would black out any second. In one swift movement he pulled out a gun, and then a gunshot rang in your ears. Your eyes followed to where the gun was aimed and it was right at Steve. 

Bucky screamed Steve’s name and crawled over to him. He pulled his best friend’s lifeless body into his chest and cried into Steve’s hair. 

The man let go of your throat and you fell to the ground like a ragdoll. You gasped for air and a hand went straight to your throat, to some how ease the pain. 

“Do you still have no money?” you could hear the smile in his voice.

You thought you were going to throw up right then and there. “I told you I don’t have any with me!!” You felt so hopeless, this man wasn’t listening to you and you knew he wouldn’t stop until he had what he wanted.

“(Y/N) how could you do this too Steve?! You are so selfish!!” Bucky yelled at you. He rocked Steve in his lap and whispered into his ear, “I’m with you till the end of the line Stevie, i’m so sorry”. 

You were speechless; everything hurt, your head, ribs, but mostly your heart. Your heart was aching watching Bucky grab onto Steve for dear life.

“Sad init? Give me the money and no one has to die.” He pointed the gun at Bucky now, but Bucky didn’t care. His Steve was dead, what was there to live for?

“LISTEN TO ME! I TOLD YOU I DONT HAVE THE MONEY ON ME!! ILL GIVE IT TO YOU IF YOU LET US GO!!” You clenched your fists with anger.

Your body felt numb when you heard another gunshot. Bucky fell over and laid there motionless next to Steve. Ringing was all you heard but you were screaming, it could have been heard across the silent city. You ran over to the two boys, and sank down to your knees. Your hands were shaking, and all you could do was cry. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry” you repeated. Your heart was racing, and your whole body started to shake when blood from the ground started to stain your stockings. Your white stockings were a dark crimson red, and you had to put the back of your hand over your mouth to stop yourself from puking.

Once again you heard the deep voice whisper into your ear, “You’re next doll”.

You sat up and let out a blood curdling scream. When you opened your eyes, tears instantly poured down your soft cheeks. Your body was covered in a layer of sweat and your hands were clenching your bed sheets for dear life. Before you could gather your thoughts, Steve and Bucky bursted into your bedroom. The nightmare was so realistic, that you were actually shocked to see them alive. Seeing them made you cover your face as you began to cry uncontrollably. Bucky raced to your side and pulled you into a tight hug; Steve quickly followed him. You instantly wrapped your arms around Bucky’s neck and hid your face in his shoulder.

“(Y/N) you’re okay, do you want to talk about it?” Bucky rubbed circles in your back to calm you down.

You shook your head no, the memories were too painful to think about. Bucky understood and didn’t press on with the matter. Steve wrapped his arms around you from behind and rested his head on your back. He could hear your heart racing in you body and he could feel how much you were shaking. Bucky and him shared concerned glances over your shoulder, they have never seen you in this state before. It hurt knowing they couldn’t have done anything to avoid this.

The three of you sat there until your breathing became normal again. You felt Bucky’s grip on you loosen and you panicked.

“Please don’t let me go”, you begged.

“I’m sorry doll, I promise I won’t.” He kissed your cheek and pulled you onto his lap. Steve let go of you and tucked himself into your bed. Bucky began to quietly sing songs to help you and Steve fall back asleep. Bucky always sang to you and Steve when one of you had a nightmare. It’s a little habit he got from his mother.

By 2 in the morning you were pulled back into a calm slumber, and so was Steve. Bucky laid you in bed, and he wiggled himself between you and Steve. Before he could fall asleep he made sure to give you both kisses. He left a kiss on Steve’s forehead, and left one on your temple. But this time his lips lingered a little longer than usual. He laid in bed and couldn’t help but smile to himself as he thought about how lucky he was to have such beautiful, amazing people in his life.


	5. Chapter 5

The winter of 1938 had to be the best winter you, Steve, and Bucky have ever had. Not only were you getting the perfect amount of snow, but this has been the first winter Steve did not get sick! It was such a huge relief, he would usually get an awful fever when it switched from fall to winter, but Steve was as healthy as ever! If only Mrs. Rogers could see him now, God rest her soul. You had moved into an apartment with Steve and Bucky that spring when she had passed to help take care of Steve. You got a job down at that bakery you loved, so you could work and help pay rent when Bucky had off. You could easily take money from your family but you wanted to earn your money, but you were never one to turn it down when they gave it.

Marco, the owner of the bakery, gave you off when it was heard that there was a huge snowstorm coming, and thankfully so did Bucky. You three could finally spend some quality time together, that you have been missing oh so much. You were hoping it would be a big snow storm so you could spend more time with them. Sitting by the fire and cuddling under a blanket with them had to be your favorite part of winter. You wouldn’t admit this in front of Bucky but Steve was probably your favorite person to cuddle with, mostly because he was the perfect size for you to hold. Although, Bucky was like a perfect teddy bear you could snuggle up with. 

In the winter, you three usually slept in one bed so you could keep Steve warm, he was sandwiched between you and Bucky. Today you woke up earlier than the two boys. You carefully got out of bed trying not to disturb them. Once you wrapped your fluffy robe around your body you kissed both of them on the cheeks, then left to go into the bathroom. You did your morning routine, and made your way into the kitchen. You were about to whip up some eggs and bacon, when you realized the snow that was sitting on the other side of your window. 

Your face lit up with joy and you jumped up and down. You ran to the living room to see how much snow was covering the streets. Quickly, you wiped the fog from the window and all you saw was a “winter wonderland”.

It snowed so much the you couldn’t even tell the difference between the street and the sidewalk. It looked like a white, fluffy blanket was laid on Brooklyn. A day like this calls for hot chocolate! You didn’t drink it often because it could be pricey but you have been saving this baby for awhile now. You took a deep breath to compose yourself, you didn’t want to wake up Steve and Bucky.

You went back to making breakfast, but all you could focus on was going into the snow. The three of you had just bought new winter clothes, a gift from your mother. Right when you were finished adding eggs to the last plate, Steve walked in rubbing his eyes like the adorable person that he was. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty” You winked at him and handed him his plate of food.

“Good morning (Y/N) thank you for making breakfast.” He kissed your cheek and took the plate to a seat at the circular table.

“IS THAT BACON I SMELL?!” Bucky asked while stretching his back.

“It is and you better get it quick before I eat it!” you joked and gave the scruffy faced brunette his food.

“Ah you are such a doll, you know that?” Bucky said with a mouth full of food.

“I’ve been told”, you said with a giggle.

“BY WHO?!” both of them asked with shocked and tense faces.

You cracked up at their reaction. “By you two dopes! That’s who!”, you said in between laughs.

“Oh right” Steve said, blush crept up his cheeks.

“You guys are ridiculous”, you laughed as you ate your eggs.

Since you cooked, Steve and Bucky did the dishes as you sat on the counter talking to them.

“So did you guys notice anything different today?” you asked while swinging your legs off the counter.

“Did you do something with your hair?” Bucky asked while observing your appearance.

“What? no!! …… why does it look bad?” you instantly looked down at you hair and ran your hand through it.

“No!! It looks beautiful, like always.” he winked at you and went back to scrubbing the pan.

“New nail polish?” Steve squinted down at your hand that was gripping the edge of the counter.

“Steve was that a lucky guess or have you really not been color blind this whole time?” you looked at him completely shocked that he got that right, even though it wasn’t the answer you were looking for.

He cracked up when he realized what you said, “no no no, I saw you painting them last night in the bathroom.”

“Oh, well that wasn’t the right answer!!” you started to become impatient with your oblivious best friends. “GUYS REALLY?! you really don’t know?!”

They just looked at each other guiltily then looked back at you waiting for the answer.

You rolled your eyes and pointed at the closest window. “ITS FREAKING SNOWING YOU DOPES!!”

Bucky excitedly looked out the window and Steve went on his tip toes to see over his shoulder. “what no way!!” they both stated.

You smacked your forehead with your hand, “God about time!”

“Can we go outside and later?!” Bucky asked as he continued to watch the snow fall.

“I was hoping we could! Wanna come Steve?” you hopped off the counter and walked over to them.

“OF COURSE! I’m finally healthy enough to play in the snow, you’re damn right if you think I’m going out there.” He put his hands on his hips as if he was proud of his health, which he should be!

Bucky and you laughed at Steve, you three watched the calming snow for a bit until you decided to get ready.

All three of you were wrapped up and prepared for the brutal coldness outside. When you stepped outside you noticed how quiet it was. It was amazing!! No cars, and barely any people were out besides a few kids. You ran down the stairs with excitement, and when you got to the third to last step you jumped into the shin deep snow. You looked back at the boys with pure joy in your face, you loved the sound snow made when it crunched under your feet.

You were only outside for five minutes until an intense snowball fight broke out.

“Come back here you punk!!” Bucky yelled at Steve after Steve hit him square in the face. 

You hid around the corner waiting for Steve to come by so you could tackle him into the snow.

You heard his footsteps come closer and you timed it perfectly, you took him right out and landed on top of him.

An oof left his mouth when his back hit the ground, and you laughed at his scrunched up facial expression. Then out of no where a hand full of freezing snow was shoved in your face.

You screamed in shock, as goose bumps ran up your neck. The snow stung your nose so you rubbed your face with your mitten covered hands. 

“I am so getting you back!!” Steve was in trouble and he knew it. Bucky laughed when he saw the revenge in your eyes. 

Steve ran away, you and Bucky chased after him. He was cornered and you had two perfectly good snowballs in your hands.

“Say goodbye Steven!” you said mischievously.

When Bucky raised his arm to throw the ball, Steve grabbed a garbage can lid and used it as a shield.

Bucky’s snow ball broke against the metal surface and he groaned at his failure. But not you! You hit him right in the stomach and when he went to go cover his stomach with the shield you hit him right in the face.

“HA PAY BACK!!” you jumped up in victory.

Steve huffed in defeat as the snow melted on his warm face.

After the long day of snowball fights and snow men building you guys went back to your apartment to cuddle up and drink hot chocolate. It was perfect, you listened to christmas songs, as you relaxed by the fire. 

You got awfully tired and wanted to retire to bed early, and the boys followed close behind you. You stripped down to your underwear and bra, while the boys wore their boxer shorts. You three were very comfortable with each other so it wasn’t a big deal. Also, it is a proven fact that it’s warmer if you cuddle skin to skin versus clothes to clothes. 

“(Y/N), can you be in the middle tonight?” Steve asked.

You furrowed your eyebrows at his question, “Are you sure? You’ll be warmer between Buck and I.”

“Yeah it’s fine!” he shoved himself under the covers and waited for you and Bucky to follow. “I wanted to be the big spoon for once.”

You giggled at his cuteness, “Okay Stevie!”

You laid down so your back was facing him and he put his arms around your torso and snuggled his face against your soft back.

When Bucky joined, you laid your head down on his chest and had a hand on his stomach. 

All three of your feet were tangled together, each one having warm wool socks on.

It was silent for a bit until Bucky said, “ I love you guys.”

“I love you too mama Buck” you instantly laughed at your own joke.

“Love you too Buck” Steve said from behind you.

Bucky placed a kiss on the top of your head and Steve placed a kiss on your back as you fell asleep.

You hummed with happiness when you felt their lips press onto your body.

You would definitely be getting a good sleep tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

“PLEEEAAASSSEEE?!” you begged your two best friends. You were on your knees as you clasped your hands together. You jutted your bottom lip out and gave them the best puppy dog eyes that you could.

Your family was throwing a big masquerade ball, to celebrate the New Year of 1940. A Bunch of highly classed families and friends would be there; which meant, big ball gowns and suits. Although you didn’t mind the formality, Steve and Bucky did.

“(Y/N), you know how much I hate wearing those tight dress shirts, the collars always rub my neck wrong and choke me!” Bucky refused to look at you because he knew he would give in right away when he saw your big (E/C) eyes.

“You know we wouldn’t fit in with all those people!” Steve said, he was putting up a good fight but you knew you would crack them.

“I’m going to be there guys!! Plus we are all 21 now so we can indulge ourselves in expensive champagnes and not pay a dime!” You knew this would get them.

“Champagne?” Bucky now looked at you with interest in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve been told it’s like drinking a glass of stars. Also, did I forget to mention it’s an open bar.” You looked at them smugly.

“Oh well when you put it that way, I think I could deal with a tight shirt for a few hours.” Bucky and you both looked at Steve for his answer.

“Ugh, fine, but you know I won’t be able to enjoy as much alcohol as you two.” Steve ran a hand through his blonde hair.

You ran up to them and pulled them into a hug as you jumped up and down. “You boys are going to look SO handsome!! This is going to be great!!”

You had a week before the party so you took Steve, and Bucky to buy some tux’s and so they could help you pick a dress. 

“Hoooow about this one?!” You pulled a dark green dress off the rack and held it in front of you.

Bucky scrunched up his face with a displeased look, “Oh no, you are not going to that ball looking like a bush”.

You gave an offended look to Bucky then to Steve to see if he thought the same thing, and of course he did. He gave Bucky a nod of approval and continued to finger through the dresses.

You huffed in defeat and blew a stray hair out of your face.

“Hey this one is cute!” Steve pulled out a big puffy dress with a bunch of frills.

“ohh I don’t know Steve that’s a bit much, dontcha think?” you were clearly not pleased with his choice, but right when you saw the disappointment in his eyes you took it back. “You know what it’s starting to grow on me, I will try it on okay?”

You took the dress from his hand and went into the dressing room, you took off all your clothes and hung it up too the side. 

You slid on the dress and stepped out of the room, “Sooo what do you think?” Your fingers played with the ruffles as you waited for the answer.

“aww (Y/n) you look beautiful, but I don’t think it’s the dress for you.” Steve said as he pushed you back into the room.

It took an hour for you to find the perfect dress that both Bucky and Steve approved of. It was (F/C) and it fit your body in all the right places. It was sleeveless and it had the most beautiful detailing on it. When Steve and Bucky saw you step out of the dressing room, their jaws instantly dropped. They were speechless for a good 2 minutes, yes they’ve seen you in only undergarments but this was a whole new kind of beauty.

Next on your mission was to get masks, and you all got ones that matched your outfits. You were so excited for this party that you were silently counting down till that day in your head. 

FINALLY, it was New Years Eve!! You did your makeup while Steve helped Bucky tie his tie.

“Ah Steve not so tight!” Bucky groaned .

“Quit your whining.” Steve shot back.

You stopped applying your lipstick and watched them in your mirror. You snickered at their bickering, they could act like an old married couple sometimes, but you loved it. 

By the time the boys were finished you were about done with your makeup, and you had to admit you looked good!

You spun around in your makeup chair and told them, “close your eyes, I wanna show you the final product!” Steve and Bucky complied and covered their eyes with their hands. You quickly ran around the room to slip on your heels.

You fluffed your hair up one more time then put a hand on your waist and jutted your hip out. “So how do I look?”

Bucky looked completely amazed, he bit his lip and looked you up and down. “You look beautiful doll”.

Steve immediately blushed, and scanned your body with his eyes. He took every detail into memory so he could draw you later. “Absolutely incredible (y/n)”.

You instantly smiled and took another look at yourself in the mirror, you were definitely going to be attracting the men tonight. “Thanks boys, it’s 7’clock so we should probably leave!”

They followed you out of the room, and what you didn’t know was that they were totally checking out your butt. Who could blame them, that dress did you wonders.

The hotel was about an hour away, so you arrived at 8. The place was huge! There were columns on the front that held up a balcony on the second floor. There was a gorgeous chandelier hanging in the lobby, that had a staircase on each side of the room that lead to the same balcony. Your heels clinked on the marble floor, as you walked towards the ball room.

The three of you had already put on your masks, and you were ready to party. A band was playing on the stage and there were tons of people dancing, and some were just chatting away while drinking some kind of alcohol.

“Well boys I’m going to find my parents, meet you on the dance floor?” you looked at them to make sure it was okay to leave. 

They both agreed so you left and made the impossible quest to find your parents.

It was actually quicker than you thought, you could recognize their voices right when you heard it.

You stayed and talked for a bit then you excused yourself so you could start to have some fun. 

You grabbed a fancy glass of champagne and downed it in a second. The warmth spread throughout your throat while the bubbles stung a little.

The crowd of dancing people consumed you and in seconds you were lost in the crowd. Your eyes searched for the masks of Steve and Bucky.

Suddenly you felt a tap on your shoulder and you quickly whirled around to see who it was.

It was Bucky and he was wearing that attractive smirk of his. “Hello doll, I must say you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”

“Oh we’re playing this game are we ?” You thought to yourself. “Oh you flatter me” you said as you covered your mouth, trying to hide a giggle.

“Could I have the honor of a dance?” He asked as he put on a fake English accent.

“I suppose so, I was expecting a tiny blonde to ask me for a dance,” you winked at Bucky.

“Oh I think I saw a tiny blonde dancing with a very attractive dame”

“Is that so? I think I might need to have a serious talk with him” your eyebrows furrowed. You couldn’t tell what this feeling in your chest was but you did not like it one bit.

You were too busy thinking about Steve to realize Bucky took your hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over your knuckle and brought your hand up to his lips.

Blush crept up your cheeks as you felt his soft lips touch your skin, you felt a flutter in your chest that made you softly gasp. 

Bucky pulled you into him, your footing staggered and you fell into his body. Your body was completely pressed against his, and that’s all you could focus on. It was weird, you had practically cuddled with him naked before and never felt anything like this before. 

“You alright doll?” he looked at you with worried eyes.

“yeah… I’m… I’m fine Buck” you tried not to look him in the eyes, because he could read you like a book.

You both swayed to the music and you rested your head on his chest. 

A familiar whining voice interrupted your dance, “Guys I’m bored!”

“Steve what happened to that dame?” Bucky turned his attention to him.

“Turns out she was married, and it felt wrong so I left her to find you guys.” He looked down at his feet like he was ashamed for doing such a thing.

“ aww Steve you are such a gentleman” you leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “How about we go on a little adventure boys?” you grinned mischievously.

“Oh boy, what are you brewing up in that pretty little head of yours?” Bucky asked and let go of your hand.

You led the boys out of the sea of people and into an empty space away from everyone.

“I heard the woods around here are haunted, we should check it out ourselves” you spoke quietly as you looked around for any people that could hear you.

“OHHH I like the way you think!” Bucky put an arm around your shoulder.

“You guys that is such a dumb idea, and that coming from me means something!” Steve said.

“Well I’m going, are you going, because I’m already going!” You said as you walked away from the boys.

Bucky ran after you and for a second Steve debated whether to go too; he turned around and chased after you because you three always did stupid stuff together. When you took off your masks, things meant business.

The three of you walked into the foggy forest. You weren’t going to lie, the fog made things ten times creepier than it normally would. Your eyes darted everywhere, scanning the place for anything unusual.

Then out of no where Bucky yelled, “OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?!”

“WHAT WHAT WHERE!?” You panicked and your heart started racing in your chest. Steve instantly clung to you at Bucky’s outburst.

Bucky cracked up at you and Steve’s freak out, “Got you guys!! You should’ve seen your faces!!”

“You jerk! I nearly pissed myself!!” you punched his arm.

“Ow alright sorry!” he snickered. You knew he wasn’t sorry!

It fell silent, all you could hear were crickets and the sound of branches cracking under your feet.

“(y/n) this was totally a bust, there isn’t anything out here” Steve said disappointedly.

“Yeah you’re right let’s head back, I’m freezing.” you rubbed your arms, trying to create friction for warmth.

Suddenly you heard laughing behind you guys. Your eyes widened, and once again your heart pounded in your chest.

“Guys… did you hear that?” whispered as you looked behind you for anybody. The moonlight was bright tonight, but the fog was making it hard to see.

“(Y/n) that wasn’t you?” Steve’s voice shook with fear.

“No…” now you were getting scared.

“It was probably nothing guys” Bucky brushed it off.

You kept walking but a few second later there was the sound of a branch cracking behind you again, and it sounded like footsteps. You couldn’t turn around to look so you sped up and grabbed Steve and Bucky’s hands. As you sped up so did the footsteps, now you broke out into a full out sprint. A scream that was not yours, nor Bucky’s or Steve’s echoed throughout the forest.

“RUUUN!!” you screamed. You grabbed the bottom of your dress and ran as fast as your feet could take you. You turned your head to see Bucky and Steve running after you with terrified expressions.

All you could hear was your heartbeat, and your breathing, as you dodged trees left and right.

Finally the trees were thinning out and you could see the lights from the hotel. When you thought you were going to be safe you tripped over a tree’s root and fell to the ground.

“Ah fuck fuck fuck” you scrambled to your feet as Bucky and Steve got each arm and pulled each arm in a panicked run.

You three didn’t stop running until you reached the front porch of the hotel again. You gasped for air as you rested your hands on your knees. When you heard Steve wheezing, worry washed over you. You were about to check if he was okay but he put a hand up in your direction and gave you a thumbs up.

You let out an airy laugh,”Alright, nothing about that was okay.”

“Yeah I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.” Bucky rubbed his face, trying to erase the memories of what he just experienced.

Out of no where a loud boom echoed into the night air and the three of you screamed like little kids. A crack soon followed and you realized it was fireworks…. FIREWORKS?!

“YOU GUYS IT’S MIDNIGHT!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” You threw your invisible confetti up in the air as you cheered with joy.

“Wow and to think we almost died before the new year!” Steve said sarcastically.

“We can’t forget about our midnight kisses!!” Bucky reminded you guys.

Your rolled your eyes and laughed, you kissed Bucky and Steve on the corners of their mouths, and the exchange was shared between the three of you.

Bucky pulled you in by the waist and Steve by the shoulder so you could watch the fireworks together. Another great year full of memories, you were excited to see what life had for you next.


	7. Chapter 7

Things have been awful since the war broke out. It’s been two years so far, and you never thought it would end. When Pearl Harbor got attacked, the United States really got involved. Men were enlisting and getting drafted everyday, you were always too scared to check the mail for a letter requesting Steve or Bucky to join the war.

You couldn’t wear stockings anymore and practically about everything was being rationed, but you still managed to gather up a meal every night for your best friends. Left overs from the bakery were usually brought home with you. Tonight you brought home a few rolls for soup. 

You walked into your shared apartment and your nostrils were instantly attacked with smoke.

Your nose scrunched up from the smell; your eyes instantly landed on the source.

“Hey, Buck you know you shouldn’t be smoking inside. It’s not good for Steve’s lungs.” You placed your paper bag of rolls onto the table and started to shoo Bucky off to the fire escape.

“I know, you’re right. I just wasn’t thinking.” Bucky’s voice was dull.

“Since when did you not think about Steve’s health? What’s the matta with ya?” You and Bucky climbed out the window and sat on the metal platform.

Bucky exhaled another puff of smoke, and he ran a frustrated hand through his tousled brown hair. Bucky didn’t know how to tell you, and he knew if he said it out loud, it meant it was real. He could sense the worry radiating off of you, but the words just got caught in his throat.

“Well it can’t be good, since you only smoke when you’re stressed.” You put your head on his shoulder as you watched the sun start to set over the other buildings.

Once again you got no answer from Bucky, your mind raced with possibilities with what was wrong with him.

“Did the people down at the docks do something? Did I do something? Is it about the rent because I know we can pay for it!” You bombarded him with questions until his sudden outburst shut you right up.

“I GOT DRAFTED!” He shouted as he continued to look out at the horizon; not even sparing you a single glance.

It felt like your whole world had just stopped. Your chest felt like somebody just grabbed your heart and squeezed it. “What?....”, your voice was barely over a whisper. You looked at him to see if this was just a joke, but Bucky’s face was like stone.

“I got drafted, I got checked and everything. I ship out next week.” He put out his cigar on the side of the metal railing and looked at you with pure sadness, “How am I going to tell Steve?”

Tears brimmed your eyes, you knew this day would come, but you just wished it wasn’t anytime soon. You got up and went back inside the apartment. Your breathing increased and your hands started to shake. 

“Bucky couldn’t be leaving you, this was a dream. This wasn’t happening.” You repeated in your head, while you paced around the living room. You put a hand on your chest and you starting wheezing. Tears were already falling and you couldn’t control your breathing at all. 

“I only have a week till he leaves. What if this is the last week you ever have with him?” Your mind was racing and you placed the palms of you hands on your temples. 

Bucky hated seeing you like this, so he instantly walked over and pulled you into a tight hug.

You put your arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. “You can’t leave us Buck, we need you”, you sobbed out. Your make up started to run and your tears stained Bucky’s olive colored shirt. 

“Shhhh, I’m sorry I have no choice darling. I don’t want to go either, but if I don’t I’ll be put into jail.” He ran a hand over the back of your head to help calm you down.

To be honest he was so scared. He didn’t know if he was going to come back, there was probably a better chance of him dying out there than coming back. 

You wanted to be tough for Bucky, because this couldn’t be easy for him either. Since, he was the one putting his life on the line. 

You took a deep breath and lightly pushed Bucky away, tears still fell down your cheeks but atleast you could hold back your sobs.

“I’m going.. to prepare … dinner” You choked back your sobs, making you have to pause between words. The back of your hands were used to wipe away your tears, and you sniffled every few seconds.

You went straight to cooking to help distract you, no matter how much Bucky protested that you don’t have to cook. As you sliced the carrots up a tear fell onto the cutting board, you stopped and put your hands on the counter to collect yourself.

“Stop crying (Y/N), he isn’t gone yet.” You mentally said.

Right when the soup was about done, Steve came back from his art class he was taking to keep himself busy. 

“Bucky were you smoking?”, was the first thing he said.

You didn’t turn around to look at him, you looked awful and you just didn’t want him to find out about the news till Bucky was ready. You wiped your eyes one last time and took a big sniffle so you wouldn’t sound all nasally.

When Steve wrapped his arms around your waist he scared you, making you flinch at the surprise contact.

“The soup smells great (y/n)!!” he said happily.

Oh that boy was like a ray of sunshine, and he has no idea about what is to come. You smiled at his sweetness and grabbed three bowls. Steve helped you set the table while Bucky sat outside on the fire escape. 

When Steve saw your red, puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks he instantly was worried.

“(Y/N) what happened, are you okay?” he held your face with both his hands and looked you straight in the eyes with his icy blue ones.

You closed your eyes and nodded; you bit your lip to keep it from quivering.

“You’re lying, did you and Bucky get in a fight?” Steve’s jaw tensed up from the thought of Bucky ever hurting you.

“No, it’s fine Steve” your voice was weak as you walked past him to get Bucky.

“Why don’t I believe you” he asked.

You stopped mid walking and just stood there, holding back a whimper. You covered your mouth with your hand and closed your eyes, trying so hard not to cry again. After, a few seconds you walked towards the window again to tell Bucky to come in.

“Hey Buck, dinners ready.” You said calmly.

There were a few sniffles before you saw Bucky get up from his spot.

Dinner was quiet, and Steve was awfully suspicious about what happened when he was gone. He was kind of upset that neither one of you would tell him any details. You and Bucky never fought so it was odd to even imagine that happening.

Bucky’s voice broke the silence, “Steve I have something to tell you, I’ve been drafted, and I have to leave in a week”.

You noticed how much it pained Bucky to tell him this.

Steve’s spoon stopped halfway to his mouth and he just stared at Bucky like what he said wasn’t english. He placed his utensil back into the bowl and just shook his head, “no you’re not leaving”.

“Steve I have…”

Steve cut Bucky off, “YOU’RE NOT LEAVING JAMES, this isn’t fair!” He shot up from his seat and walked quickly into the bedroom. The door closed with a slam, making you jump.

You placed the palm of your hands to your eyes, as your elbows rested on the table. Your body shook as you cried again.

“(Y/N) please don’t cry, I hate seeing you like this doll”. Bucky couldn’t even keep himself from joining into the water works as he attempted to comfort you.

“I can’t…. I’m going to miss you so much James, you don’t understand.” You and Steve rarely ever used Bucky’s first name, except when it was a serious time, like this.

He rested his forehead against your head, “I know darling, it’s just as hard for me, maybe even harder.” He paused for a second, “C’mon lets go cuddle Steve, I don’t want him having a panic attack.”

Bucky picked you up out of the chair bridal style and walked you into the room. You turned the knob and he slightly kicked the door open with his foot. The bedroom was completely dark and all that could be heard was Steve’s whimpers. 

Bucky put you down and you walked over to Steve, then joined him on the bed. You sat next to his body that was shaking with anger and sadness. 

“Stevie”, you whispered.

He reached out and grabbed your hand, he squeezed it so hard that you thought your hand was going to break. You laid down and motioned for him to lay his head on you. Steve obliged and placed his head right over your heart. Your fingers played with his hair as you cooed reassuring words to him.

Bucky went back to the kitchen to take care of the dishes and leftover food. When he came back he quickly, changed clothes and jumped into bed with the two of you. 

“Bucky it’s not fair that you have to leave.” Steve whispered.

You laid your head on Bucky’s chest, so you could hear his heart beat. It picked up speed at the mention of him leaving.

“I know Steve, I don’t wanna go but it’s my duty.”

“I can’t even go with you, who else is going to keep you from being a jerk.” Steve’s tone lightened up a bit.

“Well you have to stay with (y/n), you can not leave her, You hear me?” Bucky’s voice was stern.

“Buck ..”

“No you stay alright, this world is too cruel for you Steve.” 

Nobody said anything, the tension could’ve been cut with a knife. Then you heard Bucky sniff, “I just don’t want anything happening to you two. I love you both too much to let you put yourself into hell like that. Promise me you will keep each other safe.”

“I promise”, a tear slipped out of your eye.

“I promise Buck.”

You vowed that night to never break that promise even if it would kill you.


	8. Chapter 8

The dreaded day had come; Bucky was leaving tomorrow. You still couldn’t believe your Bucky was being taken away from you. The whole week you and Steve hung around him like little ducklings to their mother. It made the nickname you gave him, Bucky ducky, make sense for once. 

Since, it was the last day, you did what he wanted. Which was get burgers and shakes, then go dancing after. Steve and you put on a happy facade for Bucky’s sake. He didn’t need anymore worries, or sadness; tonight had to matter because it could be his last one with the two of you.

To be honest, Bucky was trying to act like this whole thing didn’t phase him much, but really he was dying. He hated being away from Steve and you for longer than a week, how could he do it for months? Maybe even years! Sometimes he would cry in the shower thinking about it, but if you asked, he would deny it. Of course, you and Steve knew he was lying, you didn’t know who he was tricking but you just went along with it. 

You wore Bucky’s favorite dress; he had picked it out and insisted you tried it on. It fit you amazingly and looked incredible on you, so you just had to by it. When you pictured wearing this dress, you never thought that this would be the occasion for it.

You stepped into the living room in your gorgeous (F/C) dress, showing off all the right things. The matching pumps clincked against the wood floor of the apartment. Bucky and Steve turned their heads from their spots on the couch.

“Oh doll… beautiful, absolutely beautiful”. Bucky got up and walked over to you.

You blushed at his compliment and looked down at the ground. Your heart beat against your chest as you heard him walking over to you. 

“Ready to go dancing?” he asked.

You put on a fake smile to hide the sadness in your eyes, “Yupp! You ready Stevie?”

“I’ve have been! You take forever to get ready!” Steve said jokingly.

The three of you walked down the sidewalk with intertwined arms. You were in the middle like always, while Bucky was on the right and Steve was on your left. As you walked, you saw many girls looking at Bucky, and you knew exactly what they were thinking. If you were correct about that, you hoped that no girls would talk to him tonight.

He looked so handsome in his uniform, and it killed you to look him. It was such a bittersweet thing.

“Well Sergeant Barnes, it looks like you will be getting the attention of many dames tonight.” You said as you passed a pair of giggling girls. Bucky gave them a charming smile and wave.

“That is the only good thing that comes out of this uniform” he said as he adjusted his hat.

Steve scoffed and opened the door to the bar for Bucky and you.

There were many other uniformed men dancing around with gorgeous women. The music was so upbeat, that it instantly lightened your mood a bit. 

Bucky dragged you and Steve onto the dancefloor. The three of you had a blast and danced like idiots. It was like you guys were 16 again and dancing in Bucky’s apartment while his sister laughed at you. You haven’t let loose like this in so long, everything has been so incredibly stressful with the war. You made sure to remember this moment forever; the way Bucky laughed at Steve’s lame dance moves, and how wide Steve’s smile got when Bucky tried to copy him. This was genuine happiness, and you just wished it could last forever. Life just wouldn’t be life if it were that easy. 

A slow song started to play and Steve bailed claiming he was “too tired”.

“Care to dance?” Bucky asked with a bow and an outstretched hand.

You giggles at how cheesy he was and lightly placed your right hand into his left. Your left hand rested on his shoulder while his was on your hip.

“You really do look amazing tonight (Y/n)” he said while swaying to the music.

“Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself Sergeant.” you winked at him, but when you said the last word your heart ached.

Bucky let out a little laugh, then his smile dropped in seconds. Your eyebrows creased as you observed his mood change.

“Do you think you’ll find a man while I’m gone? I mean I know how much your mom wants you to get married.” 

“Buck..” you tried to interrupt him but he just kept on going.

“Ya know I just don’t want to miss the wedding… and..”

“JAMES!” you increased your volume to get his attention. “I’m not going to get married while you’re gone” you lowered your voice back down to a calming tone.

You looked at his beautiful blue eyes and saw tears start to brim his eyes. You frowned and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned into your touch and closed his eyes; a single tear traveled down the side of his face and his bottom lip quivered slightly. 

“Buck, I can’t go off and get married when I have you two too worry about.” you said softly while rubbing his tear away with your thumb.

“What if I don’t make it back?” he looked you in the eyes, and you could see so much pain.

“Bucky, don’t say that. You’re coming back okay? We can write each other and I’ll send you cigarettes and pictures. You’re going to get through this James.” You didn’t even realize you were crying until Bucky wiped away your tears.

He pulled you even closer to him and you rested your head on his shoulder while you slowly danced to the song. You hoped to never forget how warm he was, or how his smile made your heart skip a beat. You were taking in every second of this moment.

“(Y/n)?” Bucky said shyly.

“Yeah?” you took your head off his shoulder and looked up at him.

“If I never get to kiss a girl again, I want the last one to be you.” This wasn’t the light hearted Bucky you were used to. He was completely serious and you could tell how important this was to him.

“Yeah, Buck”, this made your heart beat faster than you have ever felt before. Yeah you kissed Bucky and Steve but never fully on the lips!

You and Bucky locked eyes and he placed a hand under your chin. Everything felt like it was slowing down around you, and all you could focus on was Bucky. He rubbed his thumb over your bottom lip making your lips part slightly. Then he leaned in slowly; he took in every inch of your face as he got closer to your lips. His breath ghosted across you soft red lips when he paused to look you in the eyes one last time for reassurance that this was okay. Like he read your mind, he closed the gap between the two of you. 

You never imagined his lips feeling this good; he moved his mouth against yours and you mimicked his movements. It was a slow, passionate kiss; he never took this much time to kiss a girl, but you, you were special to him.

You both pulled away just enough to get air; his lips lightly brushed against yours. You were in a complete daze as you slowly opened your eyes to find the familiar icy blue eyes you came to love so much.

Blush crept up your face when realization finally hit you that you just kissed James Buchanan Barnes.

“Thank you for letting me do that” he said sheepishly.

“It was nothing” you awkwardly laughed. “We should go back before Steve falls asleep” you smiled when you saw your friend laying his head on his arms.

Right when you got back the three of you freshened up and went straight to bed. Bucky had to leave early tomorrow morning and you wanted to be awake when he did. Tonight Bucky slept in the middle while Steve and you clung to him for dear life. You stayed awake until he fell asleep; you just had to watch him fall asleep one last time. 

You were awakened by movement next to you. You stretched your arms above your head and blinked yourself awake. 

Bucky was getting out of bed while trying not to disturb Steve. 

“Good morning Bucky” You wrapped your arms around his neck and hopped onto his back.

You caught him off guard, almost making him tumble with you on top of him. 

“(Y/N) you tryin to break me or somethin?” he laughed.

Steve groaned and rubbed his eyes as he woke up. His mouth dropped into a frown when he realized what day it was.

You quickly exited to the room to give them some time alone and to prepare breakfast. The aroma of pancakes filled the apartment. The mixture sizzled on the hot pan as you buttered the finished ones. Bucky and Steve made their way to the kitchen and excitedly sat down at the table. The three of you ate in a comfortable silence as you appreciated each other’s presence. It was weird to think from this day on it would just be you and Steve. No more piggy back rides, no more ridiculously funny stories, no more of his contagious laughter. Your chest ached as you looked at him.

By the time you were finished eating it was time for Bucky to leave. You didn’t bother to do the dishes, you just wanted to be with him and Steve. You grabbed Bucky and Steve and held them in a bone crushing hug. Of course, you started crying again, this was just too much for you to hold back. Bucky put his arms around Steve and you and rested his head on the top of Steve’s.

A horn honked outside, notifying Bucky that his ride has arrived. He tried to pry you off of him but you couldn’t bring yourself to letting go. Letting go meant no more Bucky hugs and that’s something you needed to live.

“Doll I have to leave.” His voice shook.

Steve helped you let go of him and now there was no stopping your tears. Bucky looked at you one last time and kissed you on the top of the head. He then pulled Steve in one last hug ,” You take care of her, you hear me?”

“I will Buck” Steve tightened his grip one last time before letting go.

Bucky pointed a finger at the two of you, “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone”. He opened the door and walked down the stairs before he could go back for another hug that would make him late.

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” Steve shouted at Bucky.

Bucky stopped at the bottom of the stairs and look at you two before getting into a cab. “I love you guys.”

“I love you too”, you and Steve both said.

Bucky opened the door of the car and threw his bag in; he gave you one last look then got into the vehicle. He looked at you through the window as he was driven away from home, and he wasn’t thinking about the apartment. His home was two pairs of arms and two big hearts that were aching for him to stay.


	9. Chapter 9

Life hasn’t been the same since Bucky left. The apartment was much more quiet and there just wasn’t the same happiness coming from Steve or you. All you both could do was worry about Bucky. Steve decided to work down at the bakery with you to help pay rent. He just wanted a purpose; he tried so hard to get into the army, but he was denied every time. 

You would get upset with him, because one, what he was doing was illegal and two, he was planning on leaving you. You understood he just wanted to help his country but you promised to keep him safe and you couldn’t do that when he was miles away.

Steve came into the apartment, interrupting your reading. He huffed and slumped onto the couch next to you with a paper in his hand. You looked at him through the corner of your eye and raised your eyebrows. You placed the book on the coffee table and crossed your arms, “So Steven where are you from this time?” You asked him, unimpressed with his decision. 

Steve looked down at the paper with disappointment, “New Jersey”.

You took the paper and examined it, the familiar 4F stamped in a box. “Steve you can’t keep doing this,” you motioned at the paper, “this is illegal.” You felt like a mother scolding a child. You knew how much this killed him but there was just no way he was getting into the army. “Steve…”, you placed a caring hand on his knee ,”I’ve always been supportive of you, but this is not a good idea.”

He placed his face into his skinny hands. “I know (Y/N), I just feel like I could be doing so much more. Like I have a greater purpose in life than just selling pastries.”

You looked at him with sympathy, “Oh Steve, I know without a doubt you are worth more than this, but the army just doesn’t sound like the best idea. Maybe you could do something with your art!” 

“I just want the world to be a better place, I can’t do that with stinkin art.” He ran frustrated hands through his hair.

“Nonsense!! There are many great artists who have made an impact on the world!” You got up quickly off the couch and grabbed Steve’s sketchbook off the kitchen table. You plopped back down next to him and started flipping through the pages. “Look at how amazing you are Steve! You could definitely put this skill to use!” You gave him an encouraging smile.

“Thanks (Y/N)” he said then kissed you on the cheek. 

A knock on the door interrupted your Steve cuddle session. You got up and went to the door, you opened it cautiously. You instantly relaxed when you realized it was the mailman.

“Good Morning (Y/N), how are you doing today?” Clark greeted you.

“I’m just fine, are you doing well?” you asked with a smile as you took the mail from his hands.

“It has been a long morning, but I better get going. You two stay out of trouble!” He waved goodbye and went to the next door.

“We will try!” you shouted after him.

You closed the door and sifted through the envelopes, “Bills, bills,” there was a long pause as your fingers froze on a certain envelope. 

Steve looked at you worriedly, “What is it?”, he asked anxiously.

“It’s a letter… from Bucky!!!” A smile stretched from ear to ear. It has been months since Bucky has left, and you were dying to hear from him. You raced back to the couch and jumped into Steve’s lap. Your fingers tore open the envelope, and Steve peaked over your shoulder to watch. Your hands were shaking with excitement, it was like opening a present on Christmas morning. You unfolded the letter and read it out loud.

~~~~  
Dear darlings,

I miss you two so much, it’s so boring over here. I miss doing stupid things and keeping Steve out of fights. I hope he hasn’t been giving you too much trouble (Y/n), but knowing him he probably has.

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to write about, there’s nothing interesting, besides being shot at almost every day. 

Steve I swear to God if you come over here, I will personally kill you myself. This is no place for a man like you. It’s brutal and filled with pain, and I do not want you experiencing that. The camp constantly smells awful, and the food pretty much sucks. I miss your cooking (Y/n); do you think you could send those cigarettes that you promised me? I know you hate it when I smoke but that’s the only comfort I have.

I’ve made a few “friends”, they are pretty cool guys. I think you two would like them, they remind me of you both. They have that trouble making blood in them. They keep teasing me, and asking who’s on the picture I always keep in my jacket. They think it’s a picture of two hot dames, but it’s really a picture of you two. 

It’s from last christmas remember? We had the fire going at (Y/n)’s parents’ apartment. We were really spoiled that night. Eating cookies and drinkin hot chocolate, until we thought we were gonna puke. (Y/N)’s ma bought Steve a too big of a sweater, he was practically drowning in it. Then (Y/N) decided to squeeze into the sweater too, so you both looked like a monster with two heads. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder in my life.

I’m really glad I got that picture, it’s probably my favorite picture out there. I wish I could hear your laughs one more time; if I could see your faces once more, I could die a happy man I’m sure. I can’t wait until this stupid war is over. I just want to go back home to you guys, 

It was hard getting used to sleeping without you both by my sides, but it’s not so bad anymore. There isn’t any cuddling done over here, I guess that’s not too shocking though, is it? The nights can get so cold over here; I hate cold weather. It makes my body ache and shiver like crazy. You both know how much I used to complain, but I can’t really do that over here or I’ll be told to “put a sock in it”. 

I hope you’re keep each other warm, and please I am begging you. Keep each other safe.

Love,   
Bucky

~~~

You didn’t even realize you were crying when you were done reading. Tears stained the paper, making some of the ink run down the page. You heard a sniffle behind you, confirming that Steve too had become emotional. Your chest racked with sobs and Steve wrapped his arms around your torso, while hiding his face in your hair.

Your voice was weak and shakey, “I forgot about that night; I can’t believe I forgot.” You were mad at yourself, you were too busy worrying about Bucky that you forgot about all the great times you three have had.

“Wanna cuddle in that sweater?” Steve asked.

“Yea-ah” you sad with a sad smile.

Steve went to the bedroom and grabbed his extremely over-sized sweater and threw it on himself. You couldn’t help but giggle at how big it was. The neck hole was practically falling off of Steve’s shoulders. He laid himself down on the couch and you wiggled yourself into it. You laid cuddled into Steve’s chest with your arms around him. His arms were in the sleeves and he held you close.

You fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat and you hoped you could dream about the three of you that night.


	10. Chapter 10

Your father invited you and Steve too the Stark expo, Howard was hosting. Your father and Howard were like best friends and they have been working together for years now. Howard kept trying to get you to work with him, he knew you were incredibly talented and had a lot of potential. Of course, your mother wasn’t very fond of the idea, she had different plans in mind. To be honest, you were completely content with your job at the bakery and living with Steve.

Howard wanted to grab dinner with the family, Steve, and you before his huge exhibition. He picked a very nice restaurant, that had large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and beautiful interior architecture. 

Formal “hello”s were shared and you introduced him to Steve before being taken to your table.

Steve pulled out your seat and you thanked him then sat down. Steve sat on your left, your parents on your right, and Howard across from you. 

“So (Y/N) what is a beautiful young woman like you doing with her life?” Howard asked as he took a sip of champagne.

You scoffed at his compliment, “Well I work at a bakery and I live with this dope.” You pointed at Steve with your thumb.

“Hey!” Steve said sounding offended.

Howard laughed ,”Why aren’t you working with science, I know you are smart enough too.”

You leaned back into your seat, “Well baking is like chemistry, it involves heat and chemicals and such.”

“Come on just work with me (Y/N), you’re a brilliant woman, you would fit right in!” Howard was really trying to get you tonight.

“Now Howard, you better be thinking of be ONLY partners and nothing else.” Your father said sternly, giving him a stare down.

“Robert, come on, I would never! You’re like a father to me!” Howard seemed taken back that your father would even think of that.

“Oh Robert, Howard would be perfect for her!” Your mother exclaimed.

“No, Ma stop!” You groaned and threw your head back.

“Gwen, Howard would be awful for our little (Y/N), have you gone mad?!” It was like your parents completely forgot you were right there and continued to bicker.

You rolled your eyes and looked at Steve who actually seemed to be enjoying the show.

Howard leaned across the table so he could talk to you. “(Y/N) I’m starting a new project, I can’t explain it yet, but I would really like for you to assist me.”

Steve looked at you curiously to see what your answer was.

“Howard why would I join something that I have no idea what the goal is. You could be mutating animals all I know!”

“Just trust me, we can accomplish great things together!” He persisted.

You felt Steve rub his hand against yours and you instantly intertwined fingers. “I’m sorry, but I’m not leaving Steve.” You looked at Steve and gave him a loving smile.

“Fine, but if you ever change your mind, just tell your father to give me a call.” Howard backed off when the food arrived.

Once dinner was over, Howard left and you and Steve made your way to the expo. Your parents went to go speak to a few other scientists. Steve was amazed by all of Stark’s inventions, he really enjoyed the flying car show. 

As you walked around Steve asked, “Am I holding you back from getting a better job?”

“What? NO! Steve why would you say that?” You looked at him, shocked at his question.

“Because you promised Bucky to keep me safe. I can get by on my own.” Steve stopped walking and held your hands in his.

“Steve, the thing is you don’t have too! I love you so much, I couldn’t possibly think of going about my life with out you!” You looked him in the eyes, to show you meant every word.

“(Y/N) you deserve a better life! I’m not going to hold you back!” Steve let go of you and started walking towards a building that you realized that was used for in listing into the army.

“STEVE!” you called out after him. You grabbed his arm ,”You are not doing this again! What if you get caught! They are going to take you away, and it’s not going to be to the war!” There was desperation in your voice.

“It’s worth a try.” he ripped his arm out of your grasp.

“If you do this, I won’t forgive you.” Your body shook with anger and your tone was bitter.

“Good, maybe you’ll go work with Howard.” Steve turned away from you and continued to walk.

“STEVEN GRANT ROGERS, COME BACK HERE!” You shouted as angry tears spilled out of your eyes and your fists were clenched at your side as Steve ignored you.

When he entered the building you turned to leave. Right when you started walking, your angry facade turned into sadness and you felt like you had just lost another friend to the war. You tried to keep your composure and bit your lip to keep you from crying. 

You sat on the edge of a fountain and put your face in your hands. “He isn’t going to get accepted and he’ll come back to the apartment. It will be okay. It’s just a fight, Steve didn’t mean any of that. He means well.” You thought to yourself.

You dont know how long you were sitting there until a german accent interrupted your thoughts, “You really care about him, don’t you?” .

You looked up from your hands and wiped away a few stray tears. You looked at him confused as to why a stranger would ask you about that.

“Sorry?” You asked him.

“Your friend, Steven. You care about him, no?” He was an older looking man, with thinly framed glasses. His hair was thinning and white; his face looked very friendly and kind.

“I do, a lot. He’s acting like an idiot though.” You looked down to your heels and held yourself with your arms.

“He’s a very good man, he only wants the best for you.” He said calmly.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” you asked.

“Dr. Erskine, I work with your father and Mr.Stark. I’ve heard many great things about you.” He stuck out his hand for you to shake.

“Oh it’s nice to meet you, how do you know about Steve anyway?” you shook his hand and wrapped your arms around yourself.

“I have a great interest in your friend so I had a little talk with him. I’m also very interested in you Ms. (L/N).” He adjusted his glasses on his face.

You furrowed your eyebrows, “Would you care to explain?”.

“I can not go into great detail, but your Steven is great for what I have planned. If you agree to work with me I will explain more.”

“Why do you and Howard need me so badly?” you huffed out in frustration.

“You could really help us, and I think it may even help Steve.” He looked to the building and you saw Steve walking out. 

Steve’s eyes were searching everywhere for you, he knew that he hurt you but he just wanted you to be happy.

“Well I must go, please consider my offer.” Dr. Erskine said, then he got up and left.

Steve ran over to you with a big smile on his face waving a paper in his hand.

Your mind couldn’t process what was going on, you just stared at Steve blankly as he made his way over to you.

“(Y/N) (Y/N) LOOK!!!” Steve waved the paper in your face, and your eyes darted up and down trying to read what was on the sheet. You grabbed Steve’s wrist to hold him still; your jaw dropped when you saw 1A.

“Steve”, was all you could muster out.

“I’m going into the army!” he exclaimed, his mood changed when he realized you weren’t as excited as he was.

“Oh God Bucky is going to kill me”, you muttered to yourself as you rested your forehead into your hands.

“What?” Steve asked.

You shot up and started pacing, “STEVE YOU’RE NOT LEAVING ME, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THIS TO ME. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I NEED YOU AND THEN YOU GO OFF AND JOIN THE ARMY!!” To say you were freaking out would be an understatement.

“(Y/n)”, Steve’s voice was timid.

“NO YOU LISTEN TO ME, STEVEN GRANT ROGERS. I MADE A PROMISE AND I AM NOT BREAKING IT! YOU ARE GOING TO GET KILLED OUT THERE AND IT WILL BE MY FAULT BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE YOUR BACK!!” Steve grabbed you into a hug, and you collapsed into him. You hid your face into the crook of his neck and sobbed, “I love you goddammit, why don’t you understand that.”

He held your head with his hand and lovingly pet the back of your head. “I do understand, but I’ve been trying to do this for a long time, and I need to go.”

“Steve… please don’t go” you asked weakly, you knew he was going to go but you just had to try.

“(Y/n) it’s for the best, and now you can work with Howard and have a good job.” Your face was now in his hands and he looked at you with sympathy.

“Steve I don’t care about that damn job, I just want you.”

Before you could process what was happening, Steve moved his face close to yours and in a split second his lips were pressed to yours. Your eyes widened with shock, but you then melted into the kiss and your body relaxed. Your hands went to his side and rested on his waist; Yours and Steve’s lips moved in synchronization. The kiss didn’t feel forced, it felt natural, like you have done this with him multiple times. You both pulled away from the passionate kiss, gasping for air. Your eyes searched his face for any sign of regret, but all he did was give you that goofy smile of his.


	11. Chapter 11

“Are you sure you have to go?” You asked as you helped Steve pack up his trunk.

“(Y/n), we’ve been over this” Steve sighed and gave you a stern look.

“Yeah yeah I know but, doesn’t hurt to ask right?” You laughed and smiled at him. Your mouth said happy but your eyes were sad. Steve noticed and gave you a long hug.

“You’re going to be fine (Y/N), you’re a very strong woman.” He kissed the side of your head and went to the closet.

You took a deep breath then sat on the bed and looked at what Steve put in his luggage. You got confused when you saw books piled in there.

“Steve why are you bringing these books?” Your finger ran over the cover of one of them.

“It’ll help me learn how to become a real soldier.” He said casually.

“A real soldier?!”, you exclaimed with shock.

“yeah” Steve shrugged off your reaction.

“Steven Grant Rogers, is going to war not enough?” You hated when he put himself down like this. He was always a confident little shit, but he would always get insecure when it came to women and being compared to other men. 

“I don’t know (Y/N), I just don’t wanna get stepped on, ya know?” He closed the lid of the trunk and picked it up. You knew he was struggling with it; his arms were completely extended and the big box rested on his thighs.

“Ya need help there soldier?” you snickered.

“Nope, got it” he groaned as he wobbled to the front door.

“If you say so!” You beat Steve to the door and opened it for him. He dropped it right when he stepped outside. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and put his hands on his back. “The taxi should be here soon”, you stated sadly.

Steve wanted to give you the longest last hug he could, who knew, maybe this would be the last. He put his arms around your waist and nestled his face into the side of your neck. You placed your arms over his shoulders, and rested your cheek on his head. He breathed in your scent that was sweet and floral; he could never get enough of it. Steve felt a burst of confidence so out of no where he started to kiss your neck and make his way up to your jaw line. You tilted your head up and took in a shaky breath. Steve gently pressed you against the apartment brick wall and his lips finally found their way to yours and you gladly accepted them. Your hands grabbed at his blonde hair to deepen the kiss. 

Your heart sank when you heard a car horn honk, interrupting your intimate kiss. Who knew your heart could beat this fast from a kiss. You jumped into your best friend’s arms one last time. Tears fell down your face as you closed your eyes.

“I love you (Y/N), please take care of yourself.” He kissed your cheek and pulled away.

“No fights, there’s nobody there to cover your little ass.” You said with a sad smile.

You watched him carry the trunk and get into the taxi. It was like yesterday, the same thing was happening to Bucky.

Now you were officially alone, the apartment was completely silent. No coughing noises, no sounds of pencil gliding across paper; just nothingness. You couldn’t keep the tears from spilling out of your eyes when you closed the door to your apartment. Your back slid down the door and you sat on the floor with your knees in front of your face. For the first time in years, there was no Bucky or Steve to hold you as you wept. 

~A Week Later~

You decided to get your life together after a few days of loathing and moping around. Marco was understanding when you quit working at the bakery, and he wished you the best of luck. Howard’s very kind butler came and picked you up from the apartment. Howard mentioned to pack up a month’s worth of clothes and anything else important when going away. Now this all sounded very sketchy to you but you didn’t mind, you just wanted to stay busy so you wouldn’t feel lonely.

The kind man helped you with your bags and opened the car door for you. When he sat in the driver’s seat he introduced himself.

“Well good morning, I see Howard has you packed for months.” He said as he started the car.

You laughed, “Oh no he said only a month’s worth but, he never gave any details about where I was going, so I am prepared for everything.” You buckled yourself into your seat.

“OH I’m so sorry I forgot to formally introduce myself, Jarvis.” He shook your hand.

“(Y/N), I’m glad Howard sent you to take me.” You replied with a friendly smile.

The car ride wasn’t long and you arrived at an old antique shop.

“Um why are we here?” you asked as you carried your bags.

“You will see, Ms. (Y/N)”

You followed him into the store and a bell chimed when you entered. Your eyes wandered, there were old trinkets and furniture everywhere.

An old woman came and approached the two of you, “Lovely weather we are having” her mouth tugged into a smile. You were incredibly confused and looked out a store window, it was extremely cloudy out and there was no sun anywhere. Saying the weather was nice was the last adjective you would use to describe it.

“Ah, yes, but I always carry an umbrella” Jarvis answered back. The lady walked behind a counter and the two of you walked into the back room.

“Are we allowed back here?” you worried.

“Oh hush, just be patient.” he scolded.

You sighed and he pulled a book off a shelf, the shelf made a click and it popped open. Your eyes widened and your jaw slacked as Jarvis pulled you into the secret room.

You followed him down a bland white hallway, and there was Howard at the end of it.

“(Y/N), Jarvis, about time you made it!” he accepted you into a warm hug.

“Howard, where are we and where am I going?” 

He put his arm around your shoulder and took you into a room where Dr.Erskine was waiting.

“Hello Dr.” you nodded at him.

“Hello again, Ms.(Y/N), I’m very happy that you decided to help us.”

“I have yet to hear what I am helping you with!” you complained and took a seat at a table with the two men.

“That’s what we are about to explain to you.” Howard rolled his eyes at your impatientness.

~~~~~

“Soooo basically, you are creating a serum that will make a scrawny kid into a super soldier?” you asked with disbelief.

“Yes, but it’s easier said than done.” Howard said.

“Ha, I bet it is, so why do you need me again?” You looked at the two men.

“I need you to watch our subject, and write about how he is doing at camp.” Dr.Erskine gave a smile to Howard.

“You needed me to be a babysitter?” you smacked a hand to your forehead.

“We need your judgement! Plus we will need you for the procedure anyway; it’s too late to back out so you are stuck with us.” Howard smirked.

You groaned, “Fine, this guy better not be a waste of my time.”

“I think you will be pleased with our decision.” Dr.Erskine replied.

~~~~~

You arrived at Camp Lehigh around midnight, so there was nobody out besides a few guards. 

“I will show you too your building and you will be sharing it with Ms. Carter.” An old colonel led you to your new home for a month. The room was dark, and seemed to be empty so you undressed and went to bed. You had to wake up bright and early to go talk to the man you would be observing for a few weeks.

Your eyes slowly opened, and sun shined through the windows. Your eyes widened when you remembered your responsibilities. You practically jumped out of bed and threw on your underslip; quickly you clipped your stockings and pulled on your black knee length skirt. You could tell it was burning hot out so you put on a white colored shirt and rolled up the sleeves. You ran to the closet and grabbed a black pair of heels and slipped them on; a door handle was used for balance when you put on your shoes.

While balancing on one leg the door opened and you squealed as you toppled onto the ground. 

“Oh my! I’m so sorry darling, I came to see if you were awake” A woman with a british accent said with shock. She grabbed under your arm and helped you up. Blush crept up your face as the embarrassing moment replayed in your head. “I’m Peggy Carter, I’m the one you are rooming with.” She said with smile.

You tugged at your clothes and dusted off the dirt, “(Y/N) (L/N), well that was embarrassing” you said with a nervous laugh. You had managed to embarrass yourself infront of an extremely gorgeous girl and you’ve only been there for a few hours. Her brown hair was curled perfectly and her lips were colored with a nice red.

“Oh don’t worry about it! I actually came to tell you, you had an extra hour to get ready.” she laughed. 

God, even her laugh was adorable. What was a woman like her doing here?

You let out a chuckle, “I wish you had come earlier, before I ran around like an idiot”.

“Sorry, did you atleast sleep well?” She followed you back into the room. 

You went to a mirror to apply make up and fix your hair. “Surprisingly yes! Thank you for asking!” You searched your bag for your lipstick and found a picture of Steve and Bucky; a smile crept on your face and you hung it on the mirror.

Peggy came behind you and examined the picture, “Oh who are they?” Her eyes squinted as she looked closely at the picture.

“My best friends Steve and Bucky, couple of dopes really” you giggled. The picture was of them laying in grass from the recent summer. 

Peggy gasped when she realized who the tiny blonde was in the picture, “You know Steve?!”, she said with shock.

You turned around and faced her with an eyebrow raised, “YOU know Steve?!”


	12. Chapter 12

“YOU know Steve?!” you asked Peggy in shock.

“Yes, Steve Rogers, right?” she pulled the picture from the mirror to inspect it closer.

“YEAH! How do you know this lil punk?!” You were bewildered at how Steve managed to meet her, and leave an impression on her memory.

“I’m his commanding officer here.” She said like you should’ve known that.

“He’s here?! I’ve got to see him!!” You scrambled around your room for your bag.

She let out a laugh, “Well I would hope so, you do have to observe him for a month.”

That made you freeze from what you were doing. Did she just say you were observing him?

“Excuse me?” you asked just to make sure you heard her right.

“You’re observing Steve, that’s the whole reason why you are here”, she spoke slowly and clearly but you just couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“I’m shadowing Steven Rogers?”

“Yes, (Y/N) did you hit your head when you fell. This is stuff you should already know.” She stepped in front of you and lightly placed her hands on your head. She carefully inspected your head while you just stared blankly at her.

“So Steve is the subject for Project Rebirth?” you asked, looking intently at her face.

Her eyebrows furrowed and the corner of her mouth was tugged to the side. “Are you sure you are alright. You might want to see a doctor, you don’t seem to be remembering things.”

“No, no I’m fine! I can’t believe Howard didn’t tell me Steve was the volunteer!!” you exclaimed with anger.

“He didn’t tell you?” she placed a hand on your arm.

“No!! Because he knew I would never let Steve do this!”, you grabbed your bag again and started walking towards the door.

“You aren’t planning on stopping Steve, are you?” Her accented voice echoed in your head.

You shouldn’t stop Steve, this will help him. But this is exactly opposite of what Bucky would want. Then again, Steve would never get sick again and he could change the world. Your conflicting thoughts gave you a headache.

Finally you decided, “No, I’m not going to stop him but he will be damned if he thinks he won’t get an ear full from me.” You opened the bedroom door and walked away frustrated. Peggy’s heels echoed through the building after you.

“Well you are supposed to meet him during breakfast, should I show you the way?” Peggy asked once she caught up with you.

“Yeah that would be nice! Are you going to be joining us?”

You walked outside and the sun blazed into your eyes, making you immediately squint. 

“I will after I go talk to Colonel Casey about something.” Her posture straightened when men passed by, and her face became stern. Seeing her become very professional made you straighten out a bit and you tried your hardest to stop squinting so you didn't look odd. 

The dirt crunched under your heels and you followed Peggy into a dining hall. The sound of chatter filled your ears as you were surrounded by men. A few whistled at you as you passed and you knew they were checking you out. Disgust filled you from the disrespect you were receiving; you rolled your eyes and kept on walking. 

Peggy clicked her tongue, “Now where is he, it’s quite sad, he always sits by himself.” Your heart ached at the thought of Steve being alone. You eyes scanned everywhere, but the place was just too crowded. “Oh there he is!” Peggy announced excitedly. She pointed and you followed the line of sight and saw your tiny Steve eating alone.

“Oh Steven” you muttered to yourself sadly.

Peggy heard you but just let it go. You both made a beeline, avoiding as many men as possible.

Your heart was racing as you got closer to your best friend. You really thought you were never going to see him again.

Peggy cleared her throat when she was in front of Steve’s table, “Rogers, I’ve brought the woman who will be observing you during your time here.”

Steve looked up from his oatmeal and his eyes widened like a deer in head lights. He dropped his spoon making a clink noise on the table, “(Y/N)?” his voice shook.

A smile spread across your lips and you clutched the bag in your hands to keep you from tackling Steve right then and there. “Hey Steve”.

“I can’t believe this!”, he got up and embraced you. A few men stopped and stared, while wondering how a punk like him got a dame like you. Steve pulled away and turned pink when he realized all the eyes on him. You let out a giggle and sat down at the table where Steve was sitting. 

“I will be right back, but I’m sure you two will be fine” Peggy snickered and walked away.

Before Steve sat down he asked, “Do you want me to get you any food?”

“Oh Steve always a gentleman”, you thought. You smiled at him and said, “Yeah, thanks! You know what I like!”

Steve nodded his head and left to get your breakfast. You reached into your bag and pulled out a clipboard and pencil so you could fill out a sheet that was given to you. When you turned back around a guy was sitting next to you. You weren’t expecting company so you jumped slightly and gasped with shock.

“Well hello doll”, the big blonde man said smoothly.

“Uh, hello?”, you were so not into this guy, but you knew he wouldn’t back off if you ignored him.

“What’s a dame like you doing hugging that scrawny Rogers for?” He rested a hand on your knee and rubbed a thumb over it. You picked up his hand with your thumb and index fingers, then dropped it on his own lap. 

“That is none of your business” you stated coldly. 

“Come on baby, you could do better” a hand snaked around your waist. You were about to go off on him when you had a brilliant idea. You could definitely help make Steve look good.

You sighed dramatically and did a really girly voice, “If only I could do better, but Steve is the only one for me. He tries to leave me for the many other women that line up at his door. It’s very hard to compete with all those beautiful girls, but I had to see him one last time before I moved on.”

The man’s jaw dropped, “Steve gets women?”

“Oh yes many! I’m surprised you couldn’t tell.” you batted your eyelashes at him. “He is such a gentleman, it really attracts the dames, maybe you should try it.” You said smugly.

“Unbelieveable”, the man got up just a few seconds before Steve came back.

“What did he want?” Steve asked bitterly as he placed your plate in front of you. 

“Oh nothing! He was just wondering how you were so cool.” you laughed.

He scoffed, “Yeah right, now eat your eggs before they get cold.”

You saluted him and said, “Yes sir!”

The two of you talked and while you two ate. You both had mouthfulls of food so you made faces at each other to make the other one spit their food. It was something you, Bucky, and Steve would do when eating out to embarrass one another. 

Steve scrunched up his face and made his eyes go crossed, making you snort. You covered your mouth with your hand just in case you were to laugh.

A familiar British accent interrupted you guys, “Well aren’t you two cute”, she said with a sweet smile.

You swallowed the mouthful of food, and smirked. Steve rolled his eyes and finished his glass of water. 

“So Rogers, excited to see what I have instored for you today?” Peggy asked.

Steve snorted, “Of course, I can’t wait to die of exhaustion.” 

“Oh it isn’t that bad” Peggy rolled her eyes.

You followed Steve around to his exercises and training. He got to end the day earlier than the other men since you had to “interview” him everyday. Which you weren’t going to do, you knew Steve like the back of your hand. You could fill out those questions about him in minutes. The camp was surrounded by forest so you thought it would be a good idea to adventure.

“(Y/N) are we allowed to be doing this?” Steve asked wearily.

“Ummm, well Peggy knows we are out here so it’s fine!” you said as you ducked under branches and stepped over logs. The sunlight felt so good on your skin, and the trees gave the perfect amount of shade.

Suddenly you gasped, grabbing Steve’s attention. “What?”

“Are those butterflies?” you squealed as you ran towards an open area in the forest. As you got closer butterflies started to flutter away everywhere. It was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Their wings would tickle your skin when they flew by. They were monarch butterflies, so orange appeared, bringing color to the green and brown trees. You took in a breath of air with happiness as the butterflies flew around you.

When Steve saw you running, every thing went in slow motion. Your arms were extended out like airplane wings and your curls bounced with every step. Once you got close the butterflies took off and flew around you. Their delicate wings leaving kisses against your soft skin, making you giggle. Oh how much Steve loved that giggle of yours; his heart would jump every time he heard it. Then you spun around; your hair flung around and your dress twirled with your body. There was the biggest smile on your face. Steve hasn’t seen you smile like this since Bucky left. He hoped to the heavens that he could see more of it every day.


	13. Chapter 13

Today would be the last test that Steve would go through, but neither you or him knew what it was. Well he didn't even know he was having series of tests to begin with but he seemed to be doing alright.

The men were in line doing jumping jacks and you couldn't help but snicker from how exhausted Steve looked. Peggy was yelling at them to do better, it was quite entertaining. "Come on ladies. My grandmother can move faster than you, God rest her soul." She barked out.

You stood to the side a few feet away, while holding a clipboard to your chest.

Suddenly somebody shouted "Grenade" and your heart stopped. You saw the green bomb bounce on the ground towards the squadron Peggy was with. You ran towards it but as soon as you got 3 feet away Steve throws himself on it.

Your froze in your tracks and it seemed that Peggy had the same idea as you. You looked back at her with shock as Steve shook while curled up in a ball.

"Get away! Get away!" Steve shouted and waved his arm.

You whinced waiting for something to happen but nothing did. Steve picked up his head slowly when he realized he wasn't dead. You were shaking from how scared you just were and your heart continued to race.

"Is this a test?" Steve asked as he pushed himself off the ground.

You picked Steve up by the arm, "Boy if Bucky saw you do that, he would kill you himself", you laughed. You could just imagine how furious Bucky will be when you tell him about this and Steve looked at you worried because he knew exactly what you were thinking.

You left Steve with Peggy when you spotted Dr.Erskine. Him and the Colonel Philips were talking, "yeah well he's still skinny". Colonel grumbled and left.

"Was that your idea? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" You complained.

"I think Steve is ready. We will do it tomorrow", Erskine smiled and walked away.

~~~~

You left Camp Lehigh early so you could help Dr. Erskine and Howard prepare for the procedure. The lab was massive with a bunch of controls and electricity boxes. Each wall was lined with some sort of machine.

There was a big mint colored capsule in the middle of the room. Nurses were at the side putting the serums in a metal container to keep it safe.

You helped Howard plug in a few wires and cords then you calibrated the system.

“This will be a break in science if this works.” Howard said as he put his hands on his hips. He looked proudly at his work.

“IF?”, you asked.

“Well it could go terribly wrong but there is a 96% chance that this is going to be awesome.” 

You rolled your eyes and sighed as you waited for Steve to arrive with Peggy. They have gotten awfully close during his time at camp. You really respected Peggy but you couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous every time the two were alone together. Was it because Steve was with Peggy or Peggy was with him. Maybe you had a girl crush on her, but that was normal right? Of course, if somebody asked, you wouldn’t admit it.

Just as you were thinking about them they walked through the double doors. Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at them. Steve instantly tensed up from all the eyes on him.

Peggy led him down the stairs over to where you and Dr.Erskine were waiting.

You smiled at Steve and put a comforting hand on his arm, “You nervous?”

“Psht, no…. maybe a little” Steve said shamefully.

“Don’t worry I’ll make sure you’ll be safe” you kissed Steve’s cheek and walked to the controls when Howard called you over.

“Alright (Y/N), you will be turning this knob and flip the switches when I give you the signal.” Howard pointed to what you were responsible for.

“Got it!”, you nodded your head.

You watched as Steve took off his shirt and laid himself in the chamber. He seemed to have gotten even more skinny since the last time you’ve seen him shirtless. Steve looked at where you were standing and gave you a scared face. You stuck up both your thumbs and gave him a goofy smile that made him chuckle, then he looked back up at the ceiling.

Steve’s face scrunched up when he got an injection in his arm from a nurse.

“That wasn’t so bad” you heard Steve sigh with relief.

“That was penicillin”, Dr.Erskine said.

You shook your head and laughed at Steve. Dr.Erskine, grabbed a mic and tapped it to gather the attention of the spectators in a room above. They all whinced at the high pitched ring that went through the speakers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with vita rays.”

Pads were strapped to Steve and the serum tubes were being emptied into his body. You could hear Steve’s groans and you couldn’t help but imagine how much it must hurt. Steve was always a toughy so you knew he was handling himself very well for what he was going through. The capsule doors started to close as it elevated to be almost perpendicular with the floor. Once the doors closed Dr.Erskine knocked on it to make sure Steve was okay, “Steven can you hear me?”

“It’s probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?” Steve sarcastically answered back.

“Alright, Mr. Stark we are ready to begin.”

Everyone put on glasses to protect their eyes from the harmful lights.

Howard nodded to you and you flicked on three switches and turned a knob at the same time as him. “That’s 10 percent” he read off.

A light began to emit from inside the capsule’s window, making you squint. Every second the percent rose by ten.

“Vital signs are normal”, a male doctor said.

Once it got to 70 percent Steve started shouting. 

Dr.Erskine ran too the pod with worry, “STEVEN, STEVEN”, he shouted.

Peggy ran out of the observation room and yelled, “Shut it down!”

You knew Steve could do this, you’ve heard that yell before. Yes, it concerned you but, you knew Steve and he was going to persevere.

“NO! He’s fine! Keep going Howard!!” you retaliated and waved him on.

“(Y/N) Shut it down!!” Peggy yelled at you now.

Dr.Erskine, continued to yell his name and knock on the door, but Steve still didn’t reply.

Peggy commanded once again to stop but you shook your head at Howard.

“(Y/N), Howard kill the reactor!” Dr. Erskine ran towards you two.

“NO!” you shouted, but you weren’t the only one to say that. 

Steve could finally deny his need to quit, “NO! DON’T! I CAN DO THIS!”

You smiled to yourself, because you were right and you knew Steve wasn’t going to stop now.

“80….90...That’s 100 percent” Howard called out.

The light was unbearably bright and it was as if the sun was in the room with you.

Sparks suddenly bursted out of the controls making you pull your hands back. Then every machine in the room had sparks flying out of it and the lights flickered rapidly.

The light in the pod finally turned off, and your heart raced with anticipation, to see how Steve turned out. You slowly pulled down the glasses and hesitantly walked towards the chamber. 

The doors opened and smoke poured out onto the ground. You couldn’t believe your eyes, there was no longer a scrawny guy in there. Instead a muscular tall one who was heavily breathing with sweat all over his body. Your eyes were wide and your eyebrows were as high on your face as possible. 

“Steve?” you gasped in shock. There was no way this was your Steven. You practically ran over and helped Erskine get him out of the pod. Steve lazily threw an arm over your shoulder and it was much heavier than his little twig arms. You still couldn’t believe your eyes, Steve now had the most defined muscles you have ever seen. You hesitantly placed a hand on his abs to make sure they were real. It was rock hard when your hand came into contact with it, and his pecs were right next to your face, versus when they used to be parallel with your own breasts.

Howard and Peggy ran over; Howard was in awe ,”We did it, I can’t believe we actually did it”.

“How are you feeling?” Peggy asked as she reached out and touched one of Steve’s pecs.

“Taller” was all Steve said in between his heavy breaths.

“You look taller”, you muttered.

Peggy passed him a shirt to put on and people gathered around everywhere. The chatter was interrupted by a large blast from the room above. You ducked down in surprise and Steve instantly put his arms around to protect you. Glass flew down and people gasped at the surprise. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw a man with glasses walk over to the two extra tubes of serum. Feeling courageous you broke free from Steve’s arms and shouted at him, “Excuse me!! Where do you think you are going with those?!”

He tucked a flask into his coat pocket and you ran over to him; glass crunched under your heels.

When he pulled his hand back out it wasn’t empty, but he held a gun and it was pointed right at you. Before you had time to react he pulled back the trigger. A gunshot rang through out your ears and everything went numb. 

At first nothing hurt so you didn’t think you were the one hit but then you felt an intense pain right above your heart. Tears filled your eyes and you looked down to see blood stain your royal blue dress. Your knees gave way but Steve was right there to catch you. 

The traitor left in a hurry and continued to fire shots at people who tried to stop him. Peggy pulled out her gun and chased after.

Tears brimmed Steve’s eyes as he held you. “(Y/N), (Y/N) please stay with me. I’m so sorry I should have protected you”, he sobbed out.

Your vision was going blurry and it was getting harder to breathe. You felt weightless and you couldn’t possibly put a thought together if you tried.

“SOMEBODY HELP HER!” Steve yelled at the watching people.

What you didn’t know was that, you weren’t the only one dying in the room. Dr. Erskine was shot just after you were and people just didn’t know what to do.

“Steve, go get that serum back and stop that man; I will take care of her.” Howard took you in his arms.

“Howard, I can’t leave her” Steve said with frustration.

“Steve if that serum gets in the wrong hands, the repercussions would not be good.” He answered back.

Steve debated whether he was going to leave you or not but he knew that he couldn’t let people get their hands on that. He kissed the top of your head and ran after the shooter.

Howard cooed comforting words into your ear and pet your head. You were crying, you didn’t know what he was saying or what he was shouting at people. All you could focus on was how scared you were. The pain was sharp and numbing but you couldn’t stop thinking about leaving Steve and Bucky alone in the world. 

Finally, blackness was all you saw, and you accepted it.


	14. Chapter 14

“Get that bottle of serum!” Howard yelled out orders as he held your head in his hands. A nurse came and held a cloth to your wound to help stop your bleeding.

“But it’s the last one we may never be able to re-create it!” A doctor said.

Dr.Erskine was on his last breaths; he grabbed the doctor and wheezed out, “Give her the serum, if she dies….Steve will not be the same man. He needs her”, and with that he took one last breath. 

The man was frozen for a minute until Howard yelled at him to hurry. A nurse came to him with a needle for the injection.

“Everything is fine (Y/N). You’ll be okay.” Howard reassured you. 

The thing is that you couldn’t hear a single word he was saying. You didn’t even realize you were talking yourself, “I can’t leave Steve and Bucky”. You kept repeating the phrase over and over as you cried. Howard was dying inside watching you like this. He has known you for years now, and he considered you like a sister to him. Even though he never came around to visit he did care about you.

His eyes watered as he watched a nurse inject the serum into a vein in your arm. He rubbed your tears away with his thumbs, as your breathing started to slow down. He thought that, that meant the serum was working. Your eyes closed and your breathing almost stopped all together. Howard started to freak out, “SHE”S NOT BREATHING! WHAT DO WE DO?!”

“An ambulance has arrived sir, we need to take her to the hospital.” Men with white uniforms carried a stretcher into the lab and took you from Howard’s arms. 

Your body was limp and was starting to lose temperature. He followed them out to the ambulance and jumped in with them. He wasn’t going to leave your side until he knew you would be okay.

You started to regain consciousness and the first thing you noticed was this weird tingling feeling in your shoulder, it wasn’t pain though. The more you focused on it the more you became aware of it. You could every muscle and tendon repairing itself and growing back into place. Every layer of skin carefully healing itself back to normal. You didn’t feel cold anymore, your blood was flowing regularly and not moving into only one spot. Your eyes shot open and you gasped as your heart beat at a regular pace again. 

Howard and the others in the back of the ambulance jumped at your sudden awakening.

“Holy shit!!….. IT WORKED!” Howard shouted. A smile spread across his face.

“What worked?”, you said weakly. You unbuttoned the top of your dress to see how bad your wound was, but when it was revealed there was no hole at all.

“The serum! It helps the body heal at a quicker rate!” He was ecstatic at his success!

“Was… was that the last one?” you asked in shock.

“Yeah… Dr.Erskine, said to use it on you.” Howard bowed his head at the memory of his lost friend. 

“Is… he okay?”, you asked even though from the tone of his voice you figured the answer would be a no.

“He passed. Shot like you.” He ran a hand over his tired face.

“Oh god, I’m sorry” you were sincere; you couldn’t believe at Dr.Erskine’s last moments he was saving you.

~~~~

They ran tests on you at the hospital to make sure everything was okay, before Steve arrived.

You were sitting on a bed looking out the window while listening to the radio. 

“(Y/N)!!” Steve exclaimed with happiness. He was at your side in seconds and planting kisses all over your face.

You giggled in between every kiss, “Steve. Stop!”

“I thought I was going to lose you! I was so worried!”, He moved your shirt to the side to see your stitches or bandages but all he found was perfectly smooth skin. “H-how?” 

“Howard injected me with the serum” you said shamefully, and you rubbed your one arm with your hand. 

“Oh (Y/N) it was worth it, cmon they said I can take you home.”

You got a taxi back to your apartment and all your bags were already there. You stepped back inside and you were so glad to be home, “It smells like dust in here” you laughed and you flopped onto your couch.

Steve took a big breath of air through his nose, “You’re right, it kinda does.”

He plopped himself on top of you to cuddle. You groaned, “Steve you’re so heavy, are you made of rocks now?”

He instantly got up when he remembered he no longer weighed like 100 pounds anymore. “Sorry, (Y/N) I forgot” he apologized sheepishly.

“Oh it’s fine! It’s gonna take awhile to get used to you looking like..” you paused for a minute and checked him out, you didn’t realize you were staring until Steve asked, “Like what?” 

You popped out of your thoughts, “Oh um like all muscley and tall, I’m really going to miss my tiny Steve though.” You grabbed his face to turn his head so he could look at you. You inspected every detail of his face to see if anything changed. A finger ran over his nose and you giggled.

“What?” Steve asked with worry.

“Nothing, you just got that big ol’ nose of yours and that bump still.”

Steve rolled his eyes at your joke. A thumb traced over Steve’s pink plump lips, and your heart rate began to speed up. You were drawn to him like a magnet and you pressed your lips against his. He sighed into the kiss and placed his hands on your hips. You started to move away from his lips and kiss up his jaw line. “Your. jaw. is. much .bigger” you said after every little kiss. You felt a little more adventurous so you placed your hands under his t-shirt and explored. You could feel every bump and outline of muscle under his soft skin. “I’m definitely going to get used to these” in one swift movement you pulled his shirt off and started to kiss down his chest. As you moved down your red nails scratched down his chest.

He stuttered your name when you got close to the waistband of his pants. You looked up at him from your spot on your knees, and he hooked his hand under your chin and led you back up to his face. There was a different look in his eyes that you’ve never seen before, but you liked it. He roughly crashed his lips against yours and pulled you onto his lap. He kissed down your neck and made you let out a moan when he found a sensitive spot. He sucked and bit at the spot making you gasp and suck in air. 

You unbuttoned your shirt and let it fall off your shoulders, leaving you in your skirt and bra. Steve grabbed under your thighs and lifted you both off the couch. He pressed you against a wall and passionately kissed you. He pressed into you making you moan against his mouth. 

You felt him smile into the kiss when he heard you. Once again he carried you and made his way into the bedroom. He bent down and gently placed you onto the bed. He kissed his way down your body and stopped at your breast. Skillfully he unhooked your bra with one hand and threw it across the room. His breath ghosted against your skin, leaving goosebumps all over you. Slowly he pulled off your skirt and made sure to have his fingers run down the length of your legs. 

“You’re beautiful” he whispered against your skin as he kissed back up your stomach. 

Blush crept up your face as he massaged your body. 

You unbuttoned his pants and slid it off of him. You wrapped your legs around his waist to bring him closer to you. 

He began to kiss you again, and he pressed his crotch against you and made you gasp at the contact. When you opened your mouth he took the opportunity to bite your bottom lip and give it a light tug. He pulled off his boxers as you took off your underwear.

He took you in like a beautiful sculpture of a Greek goddess in a museum, Steve couldn’t believe he had somebody this beautiful in his life. 

“Are you sure you want this?” He made sure to ask for consent first before he laid another finger on you.

“Yes, please, I want you.” you breathed out.

Steve placed another gentle kiss on you before he pushed himself into you. When you felt him slowly fill you up, you gasped and grabbed at his hair.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked breathlessly.

“Yeah” you smiled and grabbed his face back down to yours. He began to thrust into you and the air was filled with moans and ecstasy.

If the neighbors didn’t know you both were back yet, they would know for sure now.

You both laid out of breath on the bed while being tangled in sheets. You couldn’t help but smile at the memory of what you guys just did. 

Steve pulled you into his side and you snuggled against his bare chest.

“You know, you’re much harder to cuddle with now that you’re all big” you joked.

He had a smug smile on his face and all he said was ,”oops”.

“Was this your way of saying you’re happy I didn’t die yesterday?” you joked.

“Oh of course” he said sarcastically and kissed the top of your head.

“I love you Steve” you said with a yawn.

“I love you too, (Y/N).”


	15. Chapter 15

“Steve why didn’t you tell me about this?!”, you exclaimed while drinking your morning tea. You had the news paper in your hands, and you were surprised when you saw your best friend on the cover of it. You could recognize his face from anywhere and you knew for sure this was your Steven.

“Huh?”, he asked as he came out of the bathroom and dried his hair with a towel. His muscles were practically bursting out of his clothes and your breath caught in your throat when you realized that.

You cleared your throat and flipped the newspaper around to show him the picture. You read the headline, “Nazis in New York, Mystery Man Saves Child. Now; is it just me or is this you Steve.”

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Well.. I… um”, he stuttered over his words.

“Steve, I’m not mad at you, I’m really proud of you! We oughta keep this to show Bucky”, you folded the newspaper and put it in a drawer in the kitchen.

Steve wouldn’t stop staring at you for a good 10 minutes now, “What?”, you asked as you took another sip of tea.

“I can finally see color, and you’re even more beautiful than before.”, he said bashfully.

“Awwww Steve, that means you can finally see what a sunset looks like!” you smiled joyfully.

He kissed the top of your head and poured himself some tea, “What color is your nail polish?”, he grabbed your hand and inspected the color closely.

“(F/C) it’s my favorite nail polish!” you wiggled your fingers. “Oh by the way, Howard called and we have to meet him and Colonel Philips at the SSR building later”.

“For what?” he asked curiously.

“Probably to run some more tests and talk about your ‘future’” you said future in a silly voice.

~~~~

You both arrived at the building at about noon, and you were taken into another hidden room. You had a feeling they had a thing for secrets. 

“There’s our latest hero!” Howard exclaimed and patted Steve on the shoulder. Steve looked at you confused as he was brought into a room with strangers, plus Colonel Philips. The chatter in the room died down once you guys entered. 

“Steve, we need to get samples of your blood, if there is any chance of recreating the program it’s in your DNA.”, Howard said, and a nurse came and escorted him out. “Now, let’s discuss some important topics.” He clapped his hands together, and the men sat around a table. You stood there feeling out of place, you went to leave the room but he called out, “That means you too, (Y/N)”.

“Oh, uh, okay”, you awkwardly walked to the table and pulled out a chair, it made an awful screeching noise. You whinced at the loudness as you felt all eyes on you. You laughed uncomfortably as you sat down. 

One of the men cleared his throat, “Colonel Philips, my committee is demanding answers.”

Colonel Philips’s jaw tightened and he shot back, “Great, why don’t we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in YOUR car”.

There were pictures of some sort of vehicle in front of you, you grabbed one and inspected the foreign machine. “What is this?”, you elbowed Howard, who was sitting next to you.

He spoke up over the two bickering men, “Speaking modestly, l`m the best mechanical engineer in this country.. But I don`t know what`s inside this thing or how it works. We`re not even close to this technology.” He threw the pictures across the table so the others could see.

“Then who is?”, asked the man who was giving Colonel Philips a tough time.

“Hydra”, Howard said.

You knitted your eyebrows in confusion, “Hydra? what the hell was that?!”, you thought to yourself.

“I’m sure you’ve been reading our briefings”, Colonel said sarcastically.

The man made an offended face, “I`m on a number of committees, Colonel.”

“Hydra is the Nazi deep-science division. It`s led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions. Hydra is practically a cult. They worship Schmidt. They think he`s invincible.” Peggy said as she walked into the room with Steve by her side. 

You gave Steve a smile and then zoned back into the conversation. 

Colonel Philips spoke up again, “As of today, the SSR is being retasked.” He got up out of his seat, “We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter, and you too Howard. (Y/N) you would be great help to Howard, so you are coming too.” He said as if it weren’t a big deal.

“What?”, you asked bewildered, as you shot up out of your chair.

“We’re flying to London tonight”, Philips said as he walked past you.

Steve was completely silent until now, “Sir? If you`re going after Schmidt, I want in.”

You couldn’t believe what was going on, first you find out about some crazy German group, then you’re ordered to go out to London, now Steve wants to fight Hydra?! 

Colonel Philips turned around with a blank face, “You’re an experiment, You’re going to Alamogordo”, he stated sternly.

Your fists clenched as you heard him insult Steve.

“The serum worked”, Steve fought back.

“I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough.”

You saw something die in Steve’s eyes, you knew how much that must’ve hurt to hear that. The rage growing in you was spreading and your knuckles were white from how hard you were squeezing them. 

“How dare you say that!!” You said through gritted teeth.

Everyone in the room turned to you.

“Excuse me?”, Colonel Philips asked.

“I. said. HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!”, You were now shouting. 

Steve knew the tone in your voice, and he also knew that there was no stopping you now.

“STEVE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH, HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!” Now you were face to face with Colonel Philips, Steve tried to pull you away but you shook him off.

“You can not speak to me like that”, Colonel Philips said. He looked around the room for any back up but nobody wanted to help him out of the shit hole he just found himself in.

“I DON”T CARE IF YOU’RE A COLONEL!”, you poked your finger into his chest, “Steve is worth more than ten of you, if you’re enough to be a Colonel. Steve is enough to join you guys too London.”

The Colonel nervously gulped but he stood his ground, and pushed past you. You could feel your face red with anger as you watched him leave, “asshole”, you grumbled to yourself.

When you turned around, everybody’s jaws were dropped because of how you were speaking to the colonel. Your face turned red with embarrassment when you realized how you had just spoken infront of them.

Peggy stood there with her hands on her hips and a proud smile. She knew she liked you from the start, but watching you defend Steve like that confirmed how she felt. That was the moment she truly respected you; it was hard to be treated equally with so many men. Knowing that you won’t take any shit from people made her want you by her side in London even more.

A man with a hat and glasses came up to you and Steve, “With all due respect to the Colonel”. You rolled your eyes at the thought of him. “I think we may be missing the point. I`ve seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country`s seen it.”

The image of Steve on the newspaper popped back into your head. You didn’t even think about how many other people have seen that. He didn’t even tell you what happened! Although maybe that was your fault, you kept him pretty busy when you got back.

“The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands.”, he exclaimed excitedly. He put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, and you watched them attentively. “You don`t take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab.”

The idea of Steve being held in a lab made a shiver run down your spine.

“Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?”, he finally asked Steve.

“Sir, that`s all I want.”, there was desperation in Steve’s voice.

“Then, congratulations. You just got promoted.” the man said with a shit eating grin.

You and Steve shared confused looks, what did he just get himself into.

~~~~

“I don`t know if I can do this.” Steve stepped out from behind a folded border. He was in blue tights, and he kind of looked like a walking American flag. You brought your fist up to your mouth and bit your knuckle to stiffen your laughter. This was the first time you got to see Steve in the full costume and man was it funny…. but also mildly attractive?

Doug, the man who convinced him into propaganda came out with Steve’s “shield”.

“Nothing to it. You sell a few bonds. Bonds buy bullets. Bullets kill Nazis. You`re an American hero.” he said with a “no big deal” tone.

Steve laughed nervously, “It`s just not how I pictured getting there.” Steve pulled on his mask that covered everything except his sky blue eyes and perfect lips. "How do I look?“ He asked you. Steve did a little spin and man did those tights do him wonders.

“If looks could kill”, you winked at him then put both your hands over your chest and fell to your knees dramatically. You flopped your body onto the ground and threw your arms to your side.

“Wow that was dramatic” Steve laughed, making you giggle from your spot on the ground. “Get up you dope!” He grabbed your hand and pulled you up. He forgets how much strength he actually has so he pulled you harder than needed, making you fall into his body.

You put up your hands to stop you and they landed on his firm chest, and your body was pressed up against his.

“Oops, sorry (Y/N)!” he looked down at you.

You were about to get on your tippy toes to kiss him when Doug interrupted, “You go on in a minute, here take your shield”.

“You ready, Captain America?” You said smugly.

“Hell yeah….. No I actually don’t want to do this.”, he whined.

Steve’s heart was pounding in his chest, he has never done anything like this before. What if they didn’t like him?!

You could sense the fear in Steve, “Steve you’ll be fine! Just read the cards!”, you reassured him and pushed him out onto stage as the music started to play.

You watched Steve nervously walk on stage as the dancing girls did their routine.

Who’s strong and brave here to save the American way.

Steve lifted his shield in front of him so he could read the index cards you taped in it. “Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank.. But there`s still a way all of us can fight.”

Who vow’s to fight like a man for what’s right night and day?

Steve’s heart was racing as he looked into the emotionless crowd, he lifted his shield again and read, “Series E Defense Bonds. Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy`s gun.”

Who will campaign door-to-door for America?

Carry the flag shore to shore for America?

From Hoboken to Spokane

The star-spangled man with a plan

We can`t ignore there`s a threat and a war we must win.

~~~

Steve felt a little more comfortable after the first few shows, so now he strode onto stage with a hand proudly on his hip. “Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy`s gun.”

Who`ll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berlin?

Who will redeem heed the call for America?

Who`ll rise or fall give his all for America?

Who`s here to prove that we can?

The star-spangled man with a plan

After every show you waited at the side, for him to be done with pictures and autographs. You were incredibly proud of Steve, and this was really helping his confidence. Especially since girls practically swooned over him. Sometimes you’ll catch yourself rolling your eyes as you watch the girls try to flirt with. Not only did hormonal girls like him but practically everyone adored him. The crowds would whistle and clap after every show, and it just warmed your heart seeing Steve so happy. The kids especially loved the part where he “punches Hitler”.

He was traveling all over America with you by his side for support, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and even Chicago! Without even thinking about it you will hum the tune to, The Star-Spangled Man With a Plan, and Steve would always make fun of you for it.

“Well Star-Spangled man, you ready to go overseas?”, you asked as you lugged out your bags. 

Steve was going to be performing to other groups of military men. Boy, he was not prepared for how they would react to him.


	16. Chapter 16

You two traveled to Italy in November, for Steve’s little performance. It was cold, damp, and dreary. The crowd was a huge contrast from what Steve was used to and he definitely was not prepared for that. You stood backstage, and held yourself in your coat to keep warm. 

“How many of you are ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?”, Steve’s voice echoed over the silent crowd. “Okay”, he said uncomfortably. “I need a volunteer.” 

You knew Steve was trying very hard to get something out of these men, but nothing was working.

“I already volunteered”, somebody in the crowd shouted out. Everyone laughed at the joke except for poor Steve.

“How do you think I got here”, another shouted. 

You shook your head hearing them disrespect Steve like this. He was only doing as he was told, it wasn’t even his idea to come out here. You got up and walked to the side so you could see Steve. He was looking around and when he saw you at the side his eyes were begging you for help. You frowned at him and shrugged your shoulders.

“Bring back the girls!”, a person in the crowd yelled. An eruption of agreement and cheering came from the men.

“I think they only know the one song, but I`ll see what I can do.” Steve shifted back and forth not sure what to do. You decided to save him and you ran out on stage to the microphone. The men started to whistle when they saw you and you couldn’t help but blush.

“Uh, hey, the girls will be out in a bit. You guys oughta show some respect.”, you scolded.

“Yeah okay sweetheart”, another shouted and the crowd laughed again.

You rolled your eyes and you were about to walk off stage when somebody yelled out “Nice legs doll, lift up that dress of yours!”

You stopped dead in your tracks and your jaw clenched. 

“Come on guys” Steve whined.

You stomped back over to the microphone, “Excuse me?!”

All the men found your anger amusing and started laugh again. This only made you more mad, you were about to lash out when Steve put a hand over your mouth. You started to yell at Steve to let you go but your commands were muffled by his gloved hand.

“Hey, Captain, sign this!” You both looked at where the voice came from and when you spotted the man he bent over and shined his ugly ass at you two. You gasped and Steve brought the shield in front of your face to keep you from seeing any more of that.

Then out of nowhere they started to bombard you with tomatos! Steve used his shield to protect you both as you walked off the stage. 

When the show girls walked on stage they instantly started to cheer. You huffed in frustration once you were away from everybody.

“(Y/n)….” Steve said warningly.

“Steve! They were so rude!!”, you crossed your arms over your chest with anger and sat down on a crate. Steve couldn’t help but laugh, you looked like an angry toddler. “Don’t laugh!!”, you grumbled.

“Alright Alright”, he put his hands up in surrender, and placed his shield down; which had tomato juice and seeds dripping off of it. He pulled off his mask and his blonde hair flopped onto his forehead. His hand swept it back and to the side, then he pulled on his olive green jacket.

It started to rain so you two relaxed under a tent. Steve was drawing in his sketchbook as you laid down next to him and rested your head on his lap. It was calming listening to the rain hit against the tarp and hit the ground. You were about to fall asleep when a voice woke you up.

“Hi”, Peggy said softly.

“Hey Peggy”, you smiled at her.

Steve stopped drawing and put it to the side. “What are you doing here?” He asked a little too enthusiastically.

“Officially, I’m not here at all”. She walked over to where you laying and sat on a crate near by. “That was quite the performance.” she said directed to Steve.

“I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I’m used to are usually more…. twelve” 

You grabbed his hand to get his attention and he looked down at you in his lap, “You’re doing your best Steve. Atleast bond sales go up 10% in every state you visit”.

“Is that Senator Brandt I hear?”, Peggy snickered

Steve huffed and slumped his shoulder forward, “At least he`s got me doing this. Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab.” 

“And those are your only two options, a dancing monkey or a lab rat?”, Peggy asked.

You sat up and and looked Steve straight in the eyes, “Steve, you were meant for more than this. I’ve been thinking that the whole time we’ve been traveling.” You placed your hand on the side of his face and he leaned into your hand. You’ve been doing that too him ever since you guys were 16 and he still loved it.

He put his hand over yours, that was on his face. “You know, for the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted and l’m wearing tights.” Steve bowed his head in embarrassment.

“Hey you look good!”, you said with a laugh.

Peggy giggled and it fell silent again. 

An ambulance vehicle, rolled up and injured men were taken out of it. It always made you sad to see people suffering like that. “These men look like they’ve been through hell”, you stated with sadness.

“Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him, and less than 50 returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were killed or captured.”

Your eyes widened and you looked at Steve, in shock. Bucky was in the 107th, and you hadn’t seen him, which could mean one thing.

Steve felt his heart drop into his stomach, “the 107th?”, he asked to make sure he heard her correctly.

You both shared a worried look; Steve shot up and grabbed you, “Come on!” Steve ran out into the rain and you and Peggy followed. You tried to use your coat to protect your hair from the elements but it was a fail. 

Steve led you under a tent where Colonel Phillips was sat at a desk. You rang your hair out and you buttoned up your coat.

“Colonel Philips”, Steve stated.

“Well if it isn’t the star spangled man with a plan. What’s your plan today?” he said sarcastically as he shuffled through papers on his desk.

Steve looked behind him to get reassurance from you and you rolled your hand, urging him to go on.

Steve gulped and then said, “I need the casualty list from Azzano.” 

Colonel Philips stopped what he was doing and looked up at Steve, “You don’t give me orders, son.”

“We just need one name!”, you pleaded as you stepped forward from behind Steve.

“Sergeant James Barnes, from the 107th”, Steve finished.

Colonel Philips spotted Peggy, “ You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy”, he pointed at her. Peggy nodded her head, and said nothing back.

“Please tell me if he is alive sir, B-A-R…” Steve spoke up again but he was cut off.

“I can spell”, he said annoyed. He sighed and ran a hand over his tired, wrinkled face. “I have signed a lot of condolence letters than I would care to count.”

You rolled your eyes at his insensitivity.

“But the name does sound familiar, I’m sorry”, he said with sincerely.

Your eyebrows raised and you looked at Steve as tears started to brim your eyes. 

“What about the others?”, Steve asked. “Are you planning a rescue mission?”

Colonel Philips scoffed at Steve’s idea, “Yeah, it’s called winning the war.”

Steve felt annoyed at how un caring Philips was being, “But if you know where they are, why not at least..”

Colonel Philips cut him off, “They`re 30 miles behind the lines through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We`d lose more men than we`d save. But I don`t expect you to understand that because you`re a chorus girl.”

Your jaw dropped, aw hell no, he did not just insult Steve again. You were about to fight back but Peggy held your arm and shook her head at you. You blew a stray hair out of your face with frustration.

“I think I understand just fine”, there was bitterness in Steve’s tone.

Colonel Philips turned his back to you guys as he went through a filing cabinet. “Well, then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got someplace to be in 30 minutes.”

Steve turned around walked quickly out of the tent and you and Peggy followed him. 

Peggy quickly ran up next to Steve as he led you both into the dressing room tent. “What do you plan to do, walk to Austria?”

Steve threw on his brown leather jacket and tugged on cargo pants. “If that’s what it takes”.

“Wait, Steve, are you serious?” you put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“You heard the Colonel. Your friend is most likely dead.” Peggy tried to knock some sense into Steve but her saying Bucky might be dead struck something in you.

“You don’t know that”, you said seriously. “Steve if you’re going, I’m going too!” You rummaged through your bag and found some pants and boots to put on.

Steve grabbed a show girls helmet, “No you are not (Y/N)”, he said sternly.

“Why the hell not?!”, you continued to get changed and you put on a leather jacket over a shirt. You went to grab a helmet like Steve and he put his hand over yours to stop you. “(Y/N) if you get hurt I couldn’t live with myself.”

“And that makes it okay for you to throw yourself into danger? Steve I can’t have you getting hurt either! Have you ever stopped to think about how I would feel if I let you get yourself killed without backup?!” You yanked the helmet away and stomped out of the tent.

Peggy called out to you two as you both hopped into a jeep. “(Y/N), Steve, this is stupid, you’re going to get yourselves killed!”

“Peggy if you believe in me you’ve got to let me go”, Steve said.

“I can do more than that”, Peggy grinned mischievously.

~~~~

The sound of a plane engine roared in your ears as you sat quietly with Peggy and Steve, as Howard piloted.

Peggy spoke up as you neared the landing spot. “The Hydra camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It`s a factory of some kind. We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.”

Steve buckled his helmet and you mimicked his movements. “Just get us as close as you can” he shouted over the noise.

You were practically shaking; you have never jumped out of a plane and to be honest you never were planning on it.

“You two are going to be in a lot of trouble when you land!” you shouted out to Howard.

“And you two won’t?”, Peggy said with a laugh.

Steve laughed and said confidently, “Where I’m going if anybody yells at me I can just shoot them”.

You shook your head at the idea of the violence. “And they will shoot back.” You stated out loud to yourself more than anything.

“This is your transponder, Call us when you need a ride back” Peggy handed Steve a rectangular device and Steve stuffed it into his jacket.

Shots from outside made you jump from your seat. Howard turned the plane back and forth to avoid getting hit. Steve got up and threw open the airplane’s door. Wind forcefully blew into the plane, making Peggy’s hair whip back and forth around her face.

“Get back here!”, she ordered to Steve. “We’re taking you all the way in!”

Steve sat down on the ledge of the plane and secured his parachute pack.

“Holy shit! We’re jumping now?!”, you asked in shock.

Steve laughed at your nervousness. “Once we are clear, you turn this plane around”, Steve told Peggy. 

“You can’t give me orders!”, she said annoyed at Steve. 

Steve got up and tightened your parachute pack for you. You were absolutely frozen with fear. It felt unreal that you were actually going to do this. He held your hand and brought you back to the opening in the plane. He had to give Peggy one last snarky remark before making an exit, “Like hell I can’t. I’m a Captain!”

With that he pushed you out the plane and he jumped out right after you. You had to use everything in your will to not scream and blow your cover. The plane you had just jumped out of flew away from the shots being fired.

“(Y/N) pull the string…. NOW!” Steve yelled out to you and you did exactly that.

Your body jerked up as the parachute slowed you down. To be honest you were pretty sure you were going to puke up your heart. 

You both landed safely and you left your parachute bags on the ground. Steve led the way as you crept behind trees and walked with careful steps. When the factory came into sight you gasped, “Holy shit”.

Steve’s jaw dropped, “This place is huge”.

A line of vehicles were driving by so Steve and you hid until they passed. You both ran after the last truck, Steve threw you in first then jumped in right after you. 

You sat awkwardly as masked men stared at you, “Uh hello boys”, you said nervously.

Your hand was on a gun Steve gave you, but when Steve arrived he immediately took action and beat them up then threw their unconscious bodies out the back.

“You should go first next time” you said out of breath.

“Would you rather run after the truck longer?”, Steve asked jokingly.

“Well better than almost getting shot at!”

“Key word is almost”, he said smugly.

Your rolled your eyes, “You’re such a little shit, Rogers.”

Steve got his shield ready as you felt the truck pull to a stop.“OH wow is that the third curse word this hour?”

When the curtain was pulled back Steve thrust his shield forward, making the victim fly backwards about 7 feet.

“shut the fuck up”, you said as you followed Steve.

Steve snickered to himself as you both hid behind crates and machines.

Steve picked up this weird rectangular box that had a blue glow coming out of it and placed it into one of his pockets.

“Steve do you know where we are going?” you whispered as you both ran down a long corridor.

Steve answered back with a “Nope!”

The two of you ran past a door but then you back tracked when you heard voices. There were people in circular prison cells, military men to be exact.

“Those are the people that got captured!” you whispered with excitement.

“Take out those two guards on the left and I’ll get the rest”, Steve whispered back.

“Uhhhhhh I can try”

Steve left you and you crept against a wall. You spotted a loose brick and grabbed it to use as a weapon. “Shit this is going to end so badly”, you thought to yourself. You started to mentally panic as you got closer to the guards you were to take out. “Fuck what am I supposed to do?!”, you grumbled. 

You threw the brick and it hit a wall next to them. When they turned around you went into a full sprint and jumped up onto a box to get some height. You jumped on top of one of them who staggered and pushed into the other guard. The window next to them was open so all you had to do was push them out. 

The guard pushed you off of him making you fall flat on your butt. With out giving them any time to understand what was going on you got up and ran into them. The one fell right out and screamed all the way till he hit the bottom. You grabbed the other guy and punched him in the face, only to realize he was wearing a mask and that you did little damage. He retaliated and punched you right back, but as you stumbled back you ripped off the stupid mask. You threw it to the floor and attacked his face with a punch again and again until he was knocked unconscious.

Once you finally stopped there was a sharp pain on your knuckles. You looked to see what was wrong and your knuckles were busted open from all the punching and blood ran down your hand. You hissed and shook your hand, “ahh fuck ouch ouch ouch”. 

A cough took your attention away from your hand. The men in the little prisons were staring at you in shock.

“Ha…. hey”, you gave them a little shy wave until Steve came running over.

He unlocked one of the cells and gave the key for someone to unlock the rest. They stared at you both speechless.

Steve saluted them, “Fellas.”

“Who are you supposed to be?” A man with a curled mustache and hat asked.

“He’s captain america!”, you said proudly.

“I beg your pardon?”, one with a British accent asked.

“Wait we’re taking everybody?” one asked.

A japanese looking man rolled his eyes and fixed his baseball cap, “I’m from Fresno, Ace.”

This made you cover your mouth and laugh.

“I’m looking for a Sergeant James Barnes”, Steve stretched onto his toes to see over the crowd.

“There`s an isolation ward in the factory, but no one`s ever come back from it.”, the one with the mustache said.

You and Steve nodded to each other and then you said, “The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give `em hell. We`ll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else we find.”

You turned around and started to leave with Steve until the man called out again, “Wait you know what you’re doing?!”

Steve smiled, “OF course I do! I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times!”

You both left the men confused and made your way upstairs to find Bucky. It started to feel hopeless as you ran around aimlessly looking for him.

A voice made you stop running as you focused in on where it was coming from, “Sergeant Barnes, 32557”

You gasped when you realized that it was Bucky, you and Steve sprinted into the room to see your Bucky strapped to a table and rambling on about the same thing.

“Bucky?”, you whispered and a tear fell down your face. He had cuts and bruises all over his face, he seemed like he was out of his mind. 

“It’s us!” you said with a sad smile.

“(Y/N), Steve?” his voice was raspy and quiet.

Steve ripped the straps and he pulled him up. Bucky threw an arm around both you and Steve as he attempted to walk.

“Jesus, Buck, I thought you were dead”, Steve sighed as you walked down a hall.

“I thought you were smaller”, Bucky said dumbstruck. “what happened to you?”

“I joined the army.” He said with a smile.

You missed seeing these two interact with each other. You couldn’t help but laugh at Bucky’s questions.

You made your way into a very open area where you could see the whole factory, about 50 feet below.

“Is it permanent?” Bucky asked again.

“So far.”

An unfamiliar voice rang in your ears, “How exciting! I am a great fan of your films! So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still, impressive.”

You were guessing this was Schmidt. He had a strict look with his military uniform on.

“You have no idea”, Steve said back.

“Haven’t I?”, then Schmidt did the unthinkable. He grabbed skin under his chin and ripped his face clear off to reveal a red face that looked to be what resembled a skull.

Bucky’s jaw was practically on the floor as you held him up, “You don’t got one of those do you?”

The red faced man and Steve swung at each other until him and his partner retreated. Just when they left everything below you guys started to explode. The ground shook making you and Bucky stumble.

“Look, up there we can walk across!” You and Buck looked at where Steve was pointing and followed him up the stairs.

“(Y/N) go first”, Steve told you.

“Are you kidding me?!”, you exclaimed. You started to shake as you climbed over the railing so you could walk across the metal beam. You took a few steps then your body swayed, making you lose balance. Your arms flailed to keep you from falling. “I CAN’T DO THIS!”, cried out.

“(Y/N) yes you can! just pretend you’re walking on a log from when we used to adventure!” Steve shouted.

“Fuck me” you grumbled and took a deep breath. You slowly made your way across as fire erupted below. Your whole body was shaking by the time you were on a safe platform.

Now it was Bucky’s turn, you’re heart raced as you watched him. The beam creaked and dropped a few inches making Bucky almost fall. He re-gained his composure and continued, he was 5 feet to the end until it started to fall. Bucky jumped at the last second and caught the railing.

The metal beam fell into the sea of fire below and Bucky joined you to safety. Your heart dropped when you realized Steve was on the other side still.

Bucky frantically searched for something to help Steve get over.

“There’s gotta be a rope or something”, Bucky was nearly in tears.

“Just go get out of here!” Steve waved you both off.

“NO NOT WITH OUT YOU!!” Both you and Bucky shouted in unison

Steve shook his head and bent a broken rail so he could run and jump. He backed up about ten more feet and started to sprint. When he jumped everything slowed down. Fire bursted behind him as he came closer and closer to the platform. For a second there you didn’t think he was going to make it.


	17. Chapter 17

At the last second Steve grabbed the railing of the platform. There was a look of sheer surprise and fear on Steve’s face, he honestly didn’t think he wasn't going to make the jump.

“Holy shit”, Steve sighed breathlessly.

“Well get up you dope, I don’t want to burn to death”, you said in panic. You and Bucky scrambled to help pull Steve up, but not like he needed it. He was practically stronger than you and Bucky combined.

The three of you ran down hallways as fast as you could. You didn’t bother to slow down when turning corners so the three of you would slid across the floor. The building started to collapse around you and to be honest you had no idea where you were going. You knew Steve could run faster than he was but Steve couldn’t bring himself to leaving yours and Bucky’s side.

All you could hear was your quick breaths and the sound of stone crumbling with muffled explosions.

“Steve…. We’re going to die!”, you gasped as you three ran into a dead end. 

Steve frantically looked around for some sort of escape, when he realized a weak spot in a wall, “No we’re not, get behind me!”

You looked at Bucky confused, but then your jaw dropped when you watched Steve straight up run into a wall.

“Are you insane?!”, Bucky shouted right before Steve’s body collided with the wall.

You were expecting to see his body bounce off of it but instead it went right through it!

Steve’s head popped back into the huge hole he just created, “Yes, but I am also alive!” He had a shit eating grin on his face, because he knew you both doubted him for a second. “Well come on!!”

Bucky and you just stood there in place for a second until another explosion had you running for your life. You thought that you were going to have to run down another maze of halls but instead snow crunched under your feet and cold air attacked your lungs with every deep breath. The brittle air burned and your throat felt tight, but you didn’t dare stop running; not until you were safe. 

Steve led you away from the collapsing factory and towards the tree lines, where the freed prisoners were gathered.

“Well look who made it!”, the man with the mustache and bowler hat shouted.

Steve stopped running and placed his hands on his hips, he wasn’t even out of breath. “Yeah sorry we’re late, we ran into an unfriendly German.”

You and Bucky were practically wheezing with your hands on your knees. The man and Steve turned and looked at the two of you, “You guys all right?”

You continued to gasp for air and you put up a half assed thumbs up.

“Riiighht, the name’s Dum Dum Dugan”, he stuck his hand out and shook Steve’s.

Steve smiled and gave him a firm shake, “Steve Rogers, that’s (Y/N) (L/N) and…”

Dugan cut Steve off, “I know who Barnes is, we were friends before this shit happened.”

Your head shot up, “You’re the guy from the letters?”, you breathed out and walked over to him.

Bucky rubbed his hands over his face, “Why’d you gotta tell him that he was in my letters, now he’s gonna think I love him or somethin”, he whined and slapped a hand on Dum Dum’s shoulder.

“So I see you certainly gave them hell”, Steve laughed as he noticed the 3 large tanks and multiple stolen weapons the men were holding.

“We sure did, Gabe Jones”, another man introduced himself.

Steve nodded and you did a slight wave, “We better get moving we’ve got quite the walk”. Steve got everybody’s attention and explained what was going to happen.

You groaned and threw your head back as you had to start walking again. It felt like your legs were jelly from how much you just ran. That was probably the same amount of running you would have done in a year.

Steve, Bucky, and you walked in a row at the front. You thought you were going to die after the third hour of walking.

“Steve this is torture, we’ve gotta be close”, you groaned.

“Nope, we’ll probably make it by sunrise.” Steve said non-chalantly.

“Fuuuuucccckkkkkkkk” you fake cried. 

You and Steve talked to a few other men who introduced themselves. They told embarrassing stories about Bucky, while you and Steve did the same back. You found the whole conversation quite amusing but Bucky would beg to differ. You learned the names of the 3 other men, Jim Morita, which you saw in the factory, James Falsworth, and Jacques Dernier who spoke mostly french so Gabe would translate for you. 

By the time the sun was up you were completely drained of any energy, there were dark circles under your eyes and you were practically dragging your tired legs. When you saw that you were nearing the camp again it was like you have been out at sea and this was you first glance of land in days. 

You were so happy you could cry, you would have ran back but your legs would have given out after about 2 feet. As the group rolled in, the men in the camp came running to you guys with surprise. Everybody started to cheer when they realized that the captured men have returned. Steve, Bucky, and you shared proud glances at each other, with all the attention you were getting.

“Medic, we’ve got wounded!!”, you shouted out and nurses came running you way.

You were surrounded by a sea of people in seconds; Colonel Philips and Peggy found their way to the three of you.

Steve stood up as straight as a plank when he was in front of the Colonel, “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action”. He kept a straight and strong face, you were shocked at what he just requested but at the same time you weren’t because, this was Steve you were talking about.

“That’s not necessary son”, Colonel Philips nodded his head and left but not before he whispered something to Peggy, “Faith, huh?”

You furrowed your eyebrows at their interaction, but you were way too tired to question it.

Peggy walked straight up to you and Steve, “You’re late” she said with an angry face. That’s when you remembered you were supposed to call her for a ride, you face palmed yourself because you didn’t have to walk all those miles.

Steve pulled the broken transmitter out of his jacket, “I couldn’t call my ride”, he said smugly. You were about to open your mouth to say something but it was like you weren’t even in the conversation at all, so you quickly shut it.

You turned to say something to Bucky, but he quickly spoke before you could get any words out, “HEY!” he shouted to get everybody’s attention. 

The cheering and talking died down so Bucky continued, “LET’S HEAR IT FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA!” The people roared with cheers again and Bucky gave Steve a proud smile when he made eye contact with him. 

Right when Steve turned to look at Peggy, Bucky’s smile instantly dropped and he pursed his lips. Bucky was proud of Steve, but he was also furious. They brought Steve right into what Bucky wanted him to avoid. They ruined perfect, tiny Steve and introduced him into the bloody, brutal world of war and Bucky was angry. Of course, he was happy Steve could no longer get sick but instead of dying of sickness he was going to die at a hand of a man or a barrel of a gun. Bucky’s heart ached with worry, he couldn’t blame you for this happening. But he was mad for Steve bringing you here. You were a strong girl but there was no way you should’ve been at that factory with Steve. 

Bucky turned and noticed you staring at him with curiosity, he looked down and saw your bloodied knuckles. That’s when he realized how beaten you looked, your (E/C) eyes were dulled, with bags under them. Your perfectly soft skin was covered in ash and scrapes. Out of all the people in the world Steve could have brought into this fight and he brought you.

After a while everyone dispersed and went back to what they were doing. You got a rag and wiped off all the dirt on your skin and changed into a robe so you could go to bed. You were sharing a tent with Steve, and Bucky, but they were currently know where to be found. You were way too tired to worry about them so you were just about to hop into bed until Steve and Bucky came bickering at each other into the tent. You had just rested you head on the pillow and you instantly shot back up.

“YOU CAN’T JUST GO AROUND JUMPING OUT OF PLANES YOU IDIOT!!”, Bucky yelled at Steve and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“I DIDN’T DO IT ALONE!”, Steve yelled right back.

You rubbed your fingers into your temples at the mention of not jumping alone, there was no going back now, “Steve noooooooo” you groaned.

“YOU DIDN’T?!”, Bucky asked in shock.

“Steve don’t”, you said warningly.

Steve pursed his lips but he somehow still couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut, “(Y/N) DID IT TOO!”

You threw your back into the bed and sighed., “Steve you’ve done it now”.

“(Y/N) you didn’t… “, Bucky’s jaw tensed up.

Steve scratched the back of his neck and he looked at everything but Bucky, “Well… I kind of …”

You cut him off, “Steve don’t do it”.

He continued anyway, “I may have…. you know… pushed her.. out?”

Steve was clearly asking for his death, Bucky turned to Steve with fire in his eyes, “You.. what?”

You shot up out of bed and pushed Steve out of the tent, “Run you idiot, run!!”. When Steve was out of sight you turned around and smiled innocently at Bucky.

“You are in so much trouble (L/N)”, he grumbled and went to change into clean clothes. 

You walked after him and decided to explain yourself. “It’s not my fault! I promised to protect him and so I had to follow him to find you! I mean it wasn’t my idea to make him a super soldier! I was tricked into it and I knew you were going to be mad. When we came to save you I didn’t know we were going to have to jump out of a plane! I didn’t think I was going to have to kill somebody!” You were speaking so fast that all the words sounded jumbled and you were flailing your arms left and right.

Bucky couldn’t help but smile at how adorable you looked and he had to stop you, all your talking was starting to give him a headache, but you were still cute nevertheless. He grabbed your face with one hand before you could start another sentence, and he squished your cheeks. 

He had that charming smile that you missed so much, “I missed you”, he grinned.

You were frozen for a second and your heart was still beating from how fast you were talking. He put both of his hands on your face and pulled your head forward and kissed your forehead.

“Give me your left hand”, he commanded randomly. 

Your eyebrows creased in confusion, “Why?”, you asked.

He didn’t wait for your response and he grabbed it anyway, “Good I see no ring, so you managed to stay single?”, he asked in shock.

You blushed when you remembered what happened the night before he left. “Well it’s not easy having a love life when you have to look after that punk.” 

Bucky laughed, and it was a genuine happy laugh; it warmed your heart to see the familiar crinkle in his eyes. 

“You know, I wasn’t happy that Steve brought you into this, but I’m glad that it wasn’t anybody else”, He pulled you into a bone crushing hug, and kissed the top of your head. “You better wrap up those knuckles of yours”, he said still in the hug.

“I will, but I wanna hug you a bit longer, I really missed you Buck”, you said softly. Your warmth was back; you no longer felt like you were missing a third of yourself.


	18. Chapter 18

The smell of cinnamon and sweet spices entered your nose, and if you closed your eyes you could convince yourself that you were back home in Brooklyn. The warm air enveloped you as you entered the little bakery in a town near the camp in Italy. The familiar ding of a bell made you smile as you opened the door.

“Reminds me of the bakery I used to work at in Brooklyn”, you said with a smile to Peggy.

She looked at you with a shocked expression, “You worked in a bakery?”

“Why are you so surprised?”, you laughed as you walked up to the display case to see all the pastries.

Peggy stood next to you and had her eyes on a croissant. “Howard told me you were brilliant at science, I figured you’d be doing something more like him I suppose”.

You were always a person for muffins and you hadn’t had one in what felt like ages. “mi scusi”, you called out to a sweet old lady in the back.

Peggy looked at you with her mouth shaped like an “O”. “You speak Italian?”

“Why do you underestimate me so much Pegs, my father taught me a few phrases.”, your attention moved away from Peggy and to the woman who worked there. “Buono perdere pomeriggio, una focaccina prego”, you smiled sweetly and gave the correct amount of currency.

The old lady took your money and handed you the muffin you pointed too, “grazie dolcezza”. She then looked at Peggy and asked, “cosa ti piacerebbe cara?”

Peggy looked at you with a panicked expression and you laughed at her cluelessness. You decided to help the poor gal out, “un cornetto per favore”. 

The lady smiled and shook her head, then she handed Peggy a croissant as you gave money in return. As you were leaving you said “avere una bella serata”, and waved good bye to the kind baker.

When you got out onto the street you took a bite out of your muffin and you closed your eyes, pleased with how good it tasted.

“That seemed like more than a few phrases (Y/N)”, Peggy said bitterly.

“Yeah I also had a maid from Italy, but I don’t like to brag”, you winked at her and kept walking.

The two of you found a bench to sit on in a little park. You watched little children running around and their mother beckoning them over. A sweet little dog wandered alone and you felt bad for it, hopefully it wasn’t homeless. 

“So….do you fancy anybody?”, Peggy’s question surprised you; you turned and looked at her with a funny face.

“Peggy what are we ten?”, you laughed but you instantly stopped when you realized she wasn’t laughing as well.

“Come on (Y/N), you like James don’t you”, she playfully elbowed you in the side.

You swatted her arm away, “Oh quit it Peggy, this is about Steve isn’t it?”

She put a stone cold look on her face, “I don’t know what you are implying”, she refused to look at you.

“Oh don’t lie to me, I know how you look at him Peg”. You hated to admit it, but you did think Steve liked Peggy. You were happy for him, because Peggy was an amazing woman, but it killed you too. The trio you had was great and you didn’t want to add another person. Yes, you adored Peggy, but you couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Jealousy was an awful feeling and you hated it. It made your chest all tight and made you angry for no reason. Steve deserved to be happy so you weren’t going to ruin anything for him. At Least, you knew he would be in good hands once this was all over.

Peggy looked at you and there was a light shade of pink on her cheeks, she looked down to the ground and smiled, “Do you think, he has interest in me?”

You snorted at how obvious the answer was to your question, “You’re kiddin me right?”, you actually looked at her to see any hint of humor. Your eyebrows raised when you realized she was indeed serious, “Peggy, he talks about you non-stop, thinks he finally found the ‘right partner’”, you said in a silly voice. Your heart felt like it was squeezed when you said “right partner”, you played it off as a joke but it actually hurt. 

“I thought Steve liked you, though, there is clearly chemistry there”, Peggy stated.

You awkwardly laughed, “ME and Steve? Psht noooo”, your face was tomato red when you remembered when Steve and you had sex.

“You’re telling me there is nothing between you two?”, Peggy put her hands on her hips and looked at you sternly.

You didn’t know what to say! You honestly didn’t know if everything was just nothing, because it really felt like something. “Well… I.. uh. I don’t know!”, you stuttered over your words and just settled for the classic playing dumb move.

She poked a finger into your shoulder and squinted her eyes at you, “You’re lying!”, she teased.

“No Peg I really don’t know! I mean we’ve done some…..things, but I guess it was nothing!”, there was a hint of disappointment in your voice when you finally admitted it.

You had caught her attention, “What things have you done?”, she asked as she leaned in like a little kid about to get some good gossip.

You playfully pushed her away from you and got up from the bench, “We are not talking about it!”

“Oh come one!!”, she called after you. Her heels clinked against the street as she ran to catch up to you. “You’re really not going to tell me?”, she sounded offended.

“Why you wanna know so bad?”, you pushed her a little and ran off; hoping this would make her forget the subject. You weaved through people and laughed at how distraught Peggy was at first. You ran back to base camp and right when you were a few feet away you turned around, “HA I totally beat yo- woah!”

Peggy’s body collided with yours and you lost your step making you trip backwards. Your back hit the ground first making the air in your lungs puff out. “Ow”, you groaned. 

Peggy was in a fit of laughter as she laid on top of you. Her brown curls tickled your face and you huffed the hair away with your mouth but it only came back seconds later. Once you got some air back in your chest you opened your eyes slowly to see Peggy staring at you.

“What?”, you asked disoriented.

Her red colored lips parted slightly and she started to lean forward.

“Holy shit is she going to kiss me?! is this okay? oh god what do i do?!” you thought.

When she was only centimeters away you closed the gap and lightly pressed your lips against hers. Her lips were so smooth and soft, like silk pillows. Your hand traveled down to her waist, while her hands rested on the side of your face. 

The sound of men talking pulled you back into the real world and you pushed her off of you. She gasped at the sudden force and she flopped onto the ground on her back. When the men passed they stared at you strangely and kept on walking. You let out a sigh of relief and saw Peggy staring at you angrily.

“Oh Peggy, I’m sorry, I panicked and I… sorry”, you looked ashamed.

“(Y/N) it’s fine, but we better get back.”, She brushed the dirt off her coat and cleared her throat when she got up. You didn’t realize you were staring at her, so she asked, “What?”

You quickly got up and acted like you weren’t just admiring her. “Oh, um nothing, I don’t know I’m kinda shocked we kissed. I’ve never kissed a girl before.” You rubbed your arm with embarrassment.

She walked over to you and kissed you on the cheek. She leaned in close to your ear, “Well, it’ll be our little secret then.” Peggy turned around and smiled smuggly as you just stood there like a blushing idiot.

You swallowed thickly and followed her back into base. You were completely flustered, how did that happen? Peggy Carter had just kissed you and it was a secret?!

You made your way to your shared tent and Bucky was in there napping. When you came in he peeked an eye open and laughed at you. “Well look who’s back, how was your girl date?”, he winked at you.

“IT WASN’T A DATE!”, you said defensively. You cheeks grew pink again and your heart race picked up.

Bucky sat up and put his hands up in surrender, “It was just a joke (Y/N) relax”. He stared at you observantly to see what has gotten into you. “So when Steve comes back from a meeting with the Colonel the boys and I were going to a bar, would you wanna come?”, he asked.

“Uh… y-yeah sure”, you replied back.

He furrowed his eyebrows, “You okay?”, he got up and took your face into his hands. His lips tugged up when he realized something a little bit off, he ran a thumb over the corner of you mouth, “Is this smudged lipstick I see?”

You pulled your face away from his hands and ran to a mirror, there it was clear as day, red was stained on the side of your mouth. You gasped and tried to wipe it off, but it just would not come out.

“Woah, woah, why are you being all spazzy?”, Bucky walked behind you and looked at you through the mirror. You made eye contact with him but your eyes instantly darted away.

“I’m not being spazzy!”, you looked at him frustratedly.

He slowly walked away with his hands behind his back. He slightly leaned back and teased, “Whatever you say doll.”

“Ugh you jerk”, you rolled your eyes but you smiled, because of course you couldn’t stay mad at Bucky.

~~~

The bar was pretty crowded, and you practically touched every person that you passed. You were sat at the bar with Steve and Bucky while the rest of the guys sang songs and got drunk off their asses at a table near by.

“What are they laughing about over there?”, you asked as you three leaned back to get a glimpse of them. You leaned forward again and took a sip of your drink, as it traveled down it left a warm feeling throughout your chest.

“So I’m putting together a team to take down hydra bases, do you think the guys would join?”, Steve randomly asked.

You choked on your drink and some dribbled out of your mouth, making Bucky crack up, “You’re what?”

“Somebody’s gotta do it”, Steve said nonchalantly.

“I bet they will say yes”, Bucky said as he took a sip of his drink.

Steve got up, “Alright I’m going over”, you watched him leave and go into the next room. A few minutes later he returned with a proud smile.

Bucky smirked because he knew that look, “See? what did I tell ya. They’re all idiots”.

You laughed and shook your head then Steve asked, “What about you two? Ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?”

“Hell no!” you said jokingly. Bucky looked at Steve lovingly, “That little guy from Brooklyn that was too dumb to run away from a fight”. 

You placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder, “That’s who I’m following”.

Bucky looked behind him and there was a sign from the Captain America tour, “You’re keeping the outfit right?”

Steve shook his head and tried to hold back a smile, “You know what? It’s starting to grow on me”.

Suddenly all the chatter and singing died down and you were a bit confused. Then Peggy entered the room looking drop dead gorgeous. Her hair was perfectly curled and she had a beautiful red dress on. “Captain”, she nodded her head at Steve.

“Agent Carter”, he said back formally.

Bucky and you stood to the side; when you made eye contact with Peggy your cheeks heated up and you looked down at the ground.

“Howard has some equipment for you to try tomorrow”, she said as she eyed you.

Steve shifted awkwardly, “Sounds good”.

Peggy looked back at the men drinking at the table, “I see your top men are preparing for duty.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow up, “You don’t like music?” he asked.

“I do actually. I might even when this is all over, go dancing”, she smile flirtatiously.

Bucky decided to try and get a go at her, “then what are we waiting for?”

Peggy kept complete eye contact with Steve, “The right partner”.

Your jaw clenched and your hands tightened into a fist at your side. God, Steve was head over heels for her and you were jealous. You could feel your spot being replaced, but maybe you were just being paranoid. You didn’t want to hear anymore of the conversation so you walked away and downed the rest of your drink.

Bucky couldn’t stand the sight of it either, but this was a chance for Steve to be happy, so he just let it go. He followed you back to your seat, “You good?”, he asked concerned.

“Peachy”, you said sarcastically.

Before you could say anything else Steve returned and Peggy was gone.

The rest of the night was filled with laughs, the three of you were finally having fun together again. Of course, after all that drinking you were completely tuckered out. Steve carried you in his arms back to base as you slept. Your head rolled against his chest and he held you close to keep you warm. When back to your tent, he tucked you into bed with Bucky by his side.

“I missed being able to watch her sleep”, Bucky said as he admired you.

Steve placed a kiss on your cheek and went to go to bed himself. Bucky stayed for a bit longer and watched you smile in your sleep. The sight of you warmed his heart; words could not express how much he missed you. Bucky lightly traced a finger across your face and tucked your hair behind your ear.

“I love ya doll”, he placed a kiss on your temple, and retired back to bed himself.


	19. Chapter 19

Howard asked you to come down to his lab before it was time for Steve to check out some of the equipment. You and Howard were peeking through a glass window at the blue glowing light that was delicately placed on a thin needle. Howard was controlling robot arms that moved towards it. “Emission signature is unusual. Alpha and beta ray neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that”, he looked cockily at an assistant at the side who was taking notes.

You squinted your eyes as you looked at the foreign object. “Seems harmless enough. Hard to see what all the fuss is about”, you shrugged.

Howard finally had the instrument centimeters away from the light and there was a light clink, once in contact with it. You both didn’t have enough time to react to what was about to happen. The collision created an explosion. Glass flew in your direction and your face was covered in a black ash. You and Howard flew backwards and you both hit the ground hard. You groaned and rubbed your head; Howard lifted himself up a bit and said, “Write that down”, then he collapsed again. 

“You okay Howard?”, asked as you slowly brought up your upper body off of the floor.

He groaned as people started to rush in asking if you guys were okay, “yes I’m fine, wouldn’t be the first time something blew up in my face”.

“Literally, or metaphorically,” you snickered as you remembered all the times Howard’s plans have gone to shit.

He sat up and slumped his shoulders as he waved people off, “Ha ha very funny”.

~~~

You went back to your living area to shower and change into non radioactive clothing. You promised you would meet Steve to help look over the equipment. The underground secret base was crowded with agents. “Excuse me have you seen Steve?”, you asked a random woman.

She blushed at the mention of his name, “You mean Captain Rogers?”, she corrected you.

You lifted and eyebrow and looked at her unimpressed, “no ma'am I meant Steve”. 

She looked you up and down and turned away from you, “he should be down in the mapping room”, she said coldly.

You practically rolled your eyes out of your head at her attitude. You flipped your (H/C) hair over your shoulder and huffed as you walked down to the next floor. There you spotted Peggy so you tried to catch up with her. You followed her and confusion washed over you as you saw her abruptly stop to put her hands on her hips.”Hey Peg-”. Your voice died down when you saw what Peggy was staring at.

Steve was cupping the face of a beautiful blonde and they were kissing like there was no tomorrow. Your face grew red and it felt like your heart was in your throat. You were completely lost for words, you were feeling a mix of emotions, sadness? Anger? Jealousy?

Peggy was the one to break up the two kissers, “Captain! We’re ready for you, if you’re not otherwise occupied”. There was nothing but coldness in her voice. 

Steve instantly pulled away from the girl and wiped his mouth, his jaw fell speechless as he saw the two women he actually loved standing there.

Peggy turned on her heels and walked away with anger in her eyes. Steve quickly followed after her and gave you a sympathetic look as he passed, “Agent Carter, wait!”

You could feel the aching pain in your heart, Steve just chose Peggy over you, but that has been a recurring pattern over the past weeks. Maybe this was normal, a girl besides you was finally giving him attention. You should be happy for him but you weren’t, you were envious. Steve had always put you first ever since you were 16. This change happening between the two of you was not good, you hated it. You had your emotions held back behind a wall, but it was going to break.

You bit your lip as your vision became cloudy with tears, you blinked them away and took a deep breath.

“Ya know, he’s a pretty good kisser”, the blonde said satisfied.

Your jaw tightened, “I know”, you said bitterly and stomped away.

Your chest felt like it was on fire as you traveled to Howard’s lab.

“What do you think?”, Steve asked you and Peggy. He had a proud smile as he held the shiny vibranium shield in front of him. Without thinking you went and grabbed the closest gun to you, instead of feeling cold metal you felt warm soft skin under your hand. You looked up and saw Peggy went for the same gun as you, the both of you looked at each other in shock. Then a mischievous grin spread across your faces as you realized that you two had the same idea. You backed away and bowed, giving her the power to follow out the plan.

Peggy extended her arm and shot three bullets straight at the round shield. The sound of gunshots echoed through out the spacey room, both Steve and Howard flinched. Peggy and you stood there pleased and you both shared a look. You nodded, “I think it works”, you said.

You’ve had enough so you walked away and dramatically swayed your hips feeling powerful and badass about what you and Peggy had just done. It was technically what Peggy did, but you still had the idea to do it, and it’s the thought that counts.

~~~~

You went back and found Bucky with the rest of the commandos, “Hey boys”, you greeted and sat with them as they played cards.

They all said “Hi”, back then went straight to their cards. “Aw come on Darnier is totally cheating!” Dunbar complained.

Darnier scoffed at the accusation, “Je ne triche pas”.

You whispered to Bucky, “Hey wanna go drinking later, and just kinda roam around town?”

Bucky leaned his head towards you as he listened to your soft voice. A smile grew on Bucky’s face as he threw down all his cards, “I WIN!” There was a collection of groans and Bucky got up from his seat and pulled you up with him. “Yeah we can go, did you check with Steve?”

You looked down at the ground and rubbed your arm at the mention of him. “Uh no I didn’t… I just wanted it to be the two of us actually”, you said blushing.

Bucky looked at you shocked, “Oh no what did the punk do this time?” He grabbed your hand and led you to the living area.

“I’ll explain later, but I just wanna spend time with my Buck”, you leaned your head against his left arm and squeezed his hand.

“Aw okay doll, whatever you say”, he kissed your head and then asked, “Wanna go out for dinner to? They are serving meatloaf tonight and I know how much you hate that”.

You face twisted in disgust at the thought of meat loaf. At Least Bucky still cared about you… well until he finds another girl to replace you like Peggy. You shook that sad thought out of your head, “Y-eah thanks Buck!”. Your voice shook so it broke your “happy” facade.

Bucky squinted his eyes at you, “You okay?”

You shook your head and wiped a forming tear away, “Can we go soon?”.

Bucky put on a coat, “We can go now?”. You turned around and buttoned up your own jacket. You led the two of you out of the base and into the town. You both stopped in a park before dinner time.

“So wanna tell me about what the punk did?”, Bucky sat down on a bench and you mimicked his action.

You smoothed out your dress that peaked out from under your jacket. “Well…. uh, do you think Steve has been acting different lately?”

Bucky huffed and slumped against the bench, “Besides the fact that he is some kind of famous worshiped hero?”

You snorted at his bitterness, “Other than that Bucky”, you sighed.

His mouth tugged to one side as he thought, “Maybe a little, but I think it’s good he has confidence. Once he starts acting more like a little shit, that’s where I draw the line.”

You smiled at his joke but shook your head as the sign of happiness faded. “No that’s not what I meant.”

“Well what’s wrong then?”, he sat up and put a hand on your knee.

A hand ran through your curled hair as you groaned, “Buck, I’m going to sound so stupid but, Steve keeps putting Peggy before me! I mean yes I’m incredibly happy for him but, I miss when it was just the three of us ya know?” A tiny tear escaped your eye and fell onto your clothes.

“Aww (Y/N), no don’t cry!”, Bucky pulled you into a hug. “The war has changed us and things will keep on changing. You can’t let this get to you, no matter what, you will have me okay? If Steve leaves us we will have each other no matter what. I know I’m making promises that I may not be able to keep, but I have no doubt we were meant to be by each other’s sides”. 

Your heart felt like it skipped a beat at the last sentence, did Bucky just practically admit he loved you? He says it all the time, but this felt much different.

You blushed at his words, “Thanks Bucky, it’s just frustrating because you would think after everything we’ve done he wouldn’t just leave me to stand alone and look like an idiot.”

“Wait what have you guys done?”, he asked. You could feel his eyes burning into your soul; when you realized what you said you slapped a hand over your mouth.

“Nothing”, you said behind your hand. 

He started poking at your sides, “You’re hiding something!!! SPILL IT”. 

You giggled as his fingers poked into your sides and you tried to twist away from him but it was no use. “Fine fine fine!”, you said in surrender and gasped for air. “Steve and I had sex!”, you tried to say it fast enough so Bucky wouldn’t understand.

“What?….”, he gasped.

You cleared your throat, “We, ya know…. did the do..”, you had to be as red as your coat.

“Yeah yeah I understand, but like Steve.. put his thing… in you?”, he did suggestive hand movements.

You hid your face in your hands, “Oh my god please stop!”, you begged with embarrassment.

Bucky scratched the back of his neck, “Well… was it atleast good?”

You shot up from your seat, “Good bye, I am not talking about this!”

Bucky ran after you, “Cmon we are best friends and you can’t tell me?”

You sighed, “Fine, it was honestly amazing… do you think that’s why I’m so attached to him?” You looked at Bucky sadly.

He put his arm around your shoulder, “Maybe, but we don’t have to talk about it anymore. I just wanted to know what I have to compete with.”

“Compete with?!”, you looked at him confused.

“It was a joke, but here let’s get some food.” He opened the door to a cute little restaurant and let you go in first.

~~~

Dinner was amazing, and it wasn’t too late yet so the two of you bought some beer and walked around the dark town. The moon and street lights were the only source of light as you both danced around like idiots. It was something Steve, Bucky and you would always do when there was nothing planned that night.

“The moon looks so clear tonight, let’s lay down.” Bucky laid himself in the middle of the street and just stared straight up at the sky. You shrugged your shoulders and downed the last of your beer. The moon looked beautiful that night, it glowed against the pitch black sky, and could easily light up a city by itself.

“What if a car comes?”, you asked as you heard the sound of a vehicle on the other side of the buildings next to you.

“We die”, Bucky said with a straight face.

You looked at Bucky with your mouth wide open, he turns his head and breaks into a fit of laughter. Once your chuckling dies down you ask him seriously, “Bucky, do you love me?”

“OF course I do!”, he looked at you offended as to why you would even ask that.

“No, like…. LOVE love me”, your heart was pounding in your chest as you waited for his answer.

It was silent between the two of you for awhile but then he said, “Yes, I really do love you (y/n).”

The two of you continued to look at the sky and you smiled to yourself when you heard him say those words. Every time you would look at the moon you could think of tonight. The laughing and smiles that were long needed. The way he would carelessly rub his thumb over your sore knuckles or he would zone out at you as he stare at something that caught his interest. Maybe the one you loved has been right there the whole time, but the war was no time for love, so you had better just push it off.


	20. Chapter 20

“Alright Steve, time to practice using that shield of yours”, Bucky patted Steve on the shoulder with force.

“Bucky, I think I know how to use a shield.” Steve rolled his eyes and smiled at Peggy who was sat next to you.

“Do you now?”, Bucky asked mischievously. You totally saw this coming but somehow Steve didn’t. Out of nowhere Bucky chucked a rock at Steve’s shins and it hit him right in that tender spot. Steve lifted up his leg and hopped on the other. Then Bucky hit him in the other leg with another rock.

“Ow fuck Buck, you little shit, why would you do that?!” Steve asked angrily from behind his shield.

“You said you knew how to use the shield, and so far you have failed my tests”, Bucky tossed another rock at Steve, but Steve quickly blocked it.

You were cracking up on the side, and Peggy even snickered a little.

Bucky kept on throwing the stones at Steve and he eventually got the hang of it. “Alright, I think you’ve got it down, now how about…. A SURPRISE ATTACK!!” When Bucky said that the commandos popped out of their hiding spots and chucked old tomatoes and apples at him.

“What the F-”, Steve was hit everywhere with the aged fruit. “Fuck you guys!”

You thought of a great idea; without anybody noticing you picked up an unattended tomato.

“Alright guys I think he’s had enough”, you said shooing everyone away. Steve thought you were saving him but what he didn’t know was you had a tomato behind your back. You got on your tippy toes and inspected Steve’s face. “Oh Steve what’s this?”,you asked innocently. Before he could answer you shoved the tomato right into his face. It smushed right on that big nose of his and you were practically in tears from laughing.

“You jerk!”, he yelled out! He quickly grabbed you and he rubbed his face all over yours, getting the juice on you.

You giggled as Steve did that and you tried to push him away. “Steve quit it!!” Finally, you wiggled yourself free, you stuck your tongue out in disgust, “man now I’m all gross!”, you whined.

“Serves you right!”, Steve huffed out as he shook off all the remains from the weaponized fruits. “I call showering first!!” He sprinted towards the showers.

“No wait I wanna go first!!”, you called after him with an arm out.

Bucky laughed and shook his head as he watched the two of you run off. Peggy saw the way he looked at the two of you and she couldn’t help but admire that.

“You really care about those two don’t you”, she said to him.

Bucky was taken back by her straightforwardness, although this was Peggy, he should have expected that. “Y-yeah, they’re my family”.

“Nothing more?”, Peggy asked as Bucky started to walk away.

Bucky shook his head and laughed, of course they meant so much more, but there were no words to describe the love he had for them. “They mean the world to me Peggy, and I will do everything in my power to keep them safe.”

~~~

The three of you spent a lot of time practicing shooting with the Commandos. Steve was god awful at throwing his shield at first. It would constantly go flying the wrong way or when practicing stealth missions, he would drop it and it would make the most obnoxious noise ever. You couldn’t help but laugh at him every time, but Bucky would just rolled his eyes. The best thing though was when everybody got together and had a poker night. The commandos, Steve, Bucky, Peggy, and you were all playing. The game was getting intense and it was now between Steve and Bucky. Bucky put up all his money and Steve didn’t have anything else so he offered his shield. Steve was fully confident that he was going to win so why not tease Buck with the shield. Boy was that a bad idea, because Bucky actually ended up winning; which means the shield was technically owned by Bucky. You would never let Steve live that one down; Bucky even walked around camp showing off the shield just to fuck with him.

“You can call me Captain Barnes, for now on”, Bucky would smirk at Steve as he held the shield high in front of his chest.

~~~

Today was the tenth mission you guys have been on; you helped Dernier with the bombs, since you were the one who helped create them. The two of you were ordered by Steve to take out the tanks placed near the Hydra base.

You made a hand signal forward to Dernier who was 20 feet away and parallel to you. He nodded at you and you both started to creep along the side of the massive machines. There were Hydra men in the aisle of them so you had to go on the other side. You carefully took a bomb out of your bag and attached it to the smooth metal. This was repeated for the next ten tanks; it took awhile though because men would come and walk by so of course you had to hide.

It was important that this worked out because, when all the tanks blew up that would be the signal for Steve and the rest too attack.

You had finally placed the last one and you were cutting close to the time those explosions would go off. Your head peaked around the end of the tank and you saw Dernier doing the same exact thing as you. You gave him a thumbs up and you two ran away for cover with a mischievous grin on your faces.

Your backs slid down a wall and you plugged your ears so you wouldn’t go deaf from the explosions. The first one went off and you flinched but started to laugh with Dernier. One after another, a tank was blown into pieces. 

When Steve saw the explosions he instantly went into action; he threw his shield left and right, and Bucky covered him from above. 

There was a Hydra guy hiding behind rubul, you were too busy fighting off a couple of guys to warn Steve. Your heart dropped when you saw the gun aimed straight for Steve; when you heard a gunshot you froze. When you didn’t see Steve drop dead you were relieved, you realized it was the enemy who was shot. 

Steve looked up in surprise and saw Bucky cock his gun with a cold, straight face.

You saw where Steve was looking and you saw Bucky, it always gave you chills when you saw him like this. He always had an unreadable and empty look. Of course, you knew this was a very serious job but, Bucky’s expression was chilling.

~~~

The mission went smoothly, and you were relaxing with Bucky in the new camp. The sound of crickets filled your ears and you rubbed your arms for warmth as Steve set up a fire.

Bucky was looking blankly out in the distance, you were curious as to what he was looking at so you moved your head next to his. There was absolutely nothing interesting out there except trees and vegetation, so your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You slowly backed away and looked at him with concern, “Hey Buck you okay?”.

There was no reply from him; it was as if he was in his own little world.

You snapped your fingers in front of his face a few times, and after the seventh snap, he finally came back to reality. “Bucky what the hell?”

He looked around with fear in his eyes and his breathing skyrocketed. Bucky’s hand grabbed the stone wall that he was sitting on and his face turned pale.

“Bucky?! Bucky what’s wrong?!”, you started to panic, this has never happened before. You put a hand on each side of his face and tried to calm him down. “Breathe!!” You took exaggerated breaths and locked eyes with him.

Bucky’s eyes wondered around everywhere and it felt like somebody was squeezing his lungs. He felt soft hands grab his face, and a soothing voice. When he made eye contact with you he realized where he really was. He took a deep breath and stayed in rhythm with yours. Bucky pulled you into a hug and clung to you for dear life.

“Bucky you alright? You scared me”, your adrenaline was still racing through you and your heart was pounding. You felt Bucky shake his head against your neck. 

“I need to tell you something”, his voice shook.

“O-okay”, you said nervously.

He led you away from the group and you two sat on fallen tree. Bucky closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as he prepared himself for the memories to come rushing in.

You leaned your elbow on your knee and your chin on your hand.

“So you know how I was captured by Hydra?”, Bucky asked.

“Yes Buck, all three of us almost died trying to get out of that hell hole.”

“Well they did things too me there”. Bucky looked down at his folded hands and hung his head. You got goosebumps when you heard those words come out of his mouth.

“W-what kind of things?”, you said with concern.

“They experimented on me. Everyday I would be injected with something and they would run tests”. Your stomach churned as you listened to him and you tensed up. “Somedays, they would take some of my skin or blood. Even just hit me or cut me for no reason.”

You didn’t even realize that you were crying as you continued to listen to Bucky’s experience. He described everything in great detail and you had to cover your mouth so you wouldn’t interrupt him with your gasps. When he finally finished, he too was crying.

“When I zone out, it’s like I’m taken back there”.

You leaped into his arms and held him tight against you. “Bucky why didn’t you tell me about all of this before?!” 

“I didn’t want to scare you or make you worry”, he said shamefully.

You pulled away and looked him in the eyes, “James Buchanan Barnes, don’t you ever keep something like that from me. I care so much about you, I can’t believe you went through all of that.” Your chest ached thinking about Bucky undergoing all that pain and torture.

“I’m sorry doll”, Bucky broke eye contact with you and looked at the ground.

“Did you tell Steve?” You put a curled finger under his chin to make him look at you again.

“N-no”

“Buck-”

“I’m not telling him either, he can’t know about this.” Bucky’s voice turned cold again and he looked at you sternly.

“But why? Steve cares about you just as much as I do”.

“Exactly, he would turn the world upside down if he found out.”

“Secrets aren’t good Bucky”, you scolded him.

It was dark by that time and Steve got a nice fire going so he called you both over, “Hey guys I got the fire and Gabe is cookin’ some food!”

You and Bucky looked away from each other and at Steve, “Alright we’re comin’!”, you shouted out to him. As you got up Bucky grabbed your wrist tightly, making give him a questioning look.

“Not a word”, he said through his teeth.

Bucky has never been rough like that to you and that made you scared. He was always a loving guy but lately he seemed a bit off. You swallowed nervously and gave him a quick nod, “okay”, you agreed in a hushed voice.


	21. Chapter 21

“Bucky what fuck should we do?!”, you shouted as you shot at the men chasing behind you.

“Just keep shootin at ‘em!”, Bucky yelled from the driver’s seat.

Wind whipped your hair around and you sprayed bullets at the trucks that were trailing behind. Bucky made sharp turns to avoid trees, which made you lose footing so you stumbled around in the back.

“God Buck stop being so rough!”, you huffed as you pushed yourself off the wall.

“That’s the opposite of what the dames tell me”, he smirked.

You had an un pleased look on your face but before you could say a sassy remark back, bullets started to bounce off the of the truck. You ducked down for cover and grabbed a bomb; you connected the wires and pressed a button.

The bomb was thrown at the vehicle that was only a foot away, “FLOOR IT!” you shouted at Bucky.

He did exactly that, so by the time you were a safe distance the truck blew up and took out the other two.

“Nice!!”, Bucky yelled with excitement.

Out of nowhere a huge guy in some sort of armor jumped out with a massive gun. Bucky saw it at the last second and quickly jerked the truck left, “HOLY SHIT!” The man shot out a rocket, and it was aimed straight for you two. Thinking quickly, Bucky grabbed your shirt and yanked you out of the vehicle, and he yelled, “JUMP”.

You thought that when you jumped you would land on ground, but oh you were so wrong. Your heart dropped when you didn’t feel yourself come into contact with hardness. You could feel wind in your hair, so you opened your eyes and that’s when it all made sense. YOU WERE FALLING!! Bucky had just made you jump off a forty foot cliff and you were pretty positive that this was how you were going to die. To say you were ready for the icy water would be a huge ass lie.

When your body was engulfed by the freezing water, it felt like all the air in your lungs left your body. Everything went numb but you pushed yourself to try to resurface out of the water. Your legs slowly kicked and you gasped for air once your head emerged from the water. Bucky’s head popped up right after you and his face of worry changed into pure fear when he looked up. 

“What?”, you asked as your teeth began to chatter.

“WATCH OUT!”, Bucky gasped and he pulled you back under the water. You were about to resist but when you looked up and saw the truck you were just in falling to where you were, you complied. You hated not being able to open your eyes underwater, it was terrifying. You had no idea what was going around you and all you could see was black. As long as Bucky was still holding onto you though, you would be okay.

You felt the water behind you push you forward, but then there was a pull on your shirt. At first you thought it was Bucky, but it started to drag you down. You let out a cry, and bubbles escaped your mouth. Your legs kicked to fight the pull but it just wasn’t working.

Bucky felt you getting pulled down he opened his eyes in panic. Surprisingly he could see you perfectly and he saw that you were caught on the truck. He went for the knife in his pocket and swam to you. He quickly cut through your shirt and pulled you back up to the surface.

Your lungs felt like they had just shriveled up from the lack of air. You were relieved when you felt yourself being pulled back up. You used all your might to swim faster because you were pretty sure you would die any second if you didn’t get air soon. Your heart was racing, but when you felt the cool air hit your skin you took a deep breath of air in. You waited a few seconds until you felt like you took enough breaths before you said anything. “Fuck”, was all you could say. To be honest you were so done with today.

“Let’s get out of this water, I’m freezing my ass off”, Bucky said bitterly.

“Agreed, I hate the cold, this is not okay”, you shivered.

When your feet could finally feel ground you started to walk out. Randomly, Bucky pulls your arm and envelopes you into a hug. He pushed your head closer to his with his hand and kissed the side of your head. “God that was too close for comfort (Y/N)”.

“I know, thanks for saving me Buck”, you wrapped your arms around his waist.

“OH MY GOD THERE YOU GUYS ARE!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!” Steve’s voiced boomed as he ran towards you both with tears in his eyes. You heard the water being disturbed as Steve trekked through the water, “Fuck I saw you guys jump off the cliff”. He grabbed you two and wrapped an arm around the both of you. 

“It’s okay Steve, We’re okay”, you comforted him.

“We need to get you both near a fire or you’ll get sick”, Steve guided you both out of the water and he could feel you guys shivering under his arms. Steve kissed yours and Bucky’s head, which you three kind of froze when you realized he just kissed Bucky in public. The commandos just stared at you three and then they just started laughing.

You nervously laughed with them, “Why are we laughing?”

“You guys didn’t think we knew what went on behind closed doors?”, Dugan laughed.

“What does that mean?”, Bucky shot a look at them.

“vous trois êtes amoureux”, Dernier chuckled.

That made Gabe laugh, “Jesus Dernier, you can’t just say that!”

“What’d he say?”, you asked with annoyance.

“He said you guys were lovers”, Gabe said, and everyone laughed with him.

You looked at your best friends in shock.

“We are not!!”, Bucky started to stomp towards them.

You hid your face in your hands, “Oh my goooooood”, you whined.

“We aren’t”, Bucky started to run towards them and they all scattered. “Idiots’, he grumbled.

~~~

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”, loud voices pulled you out of your peaceful slumber. Your soul practically jumped out of your body and ascended into heaven. You were shocked, and definitely scared, so of course you fell out of bed. It felt like your heart jumped out of your chest and you were shaking from the adrenaline. You groaned from your spot on the ground, and your eyes started to focus on everything again.

You saw Steve and Bucky laughing their asses off at the sight of you tangled in your sheets on the floor.

“What the fuck you guys”, you rubbed your eyes and climbed back into bed.

“Well is that any way to treat your best friends on your birthday?”, Buck pouted and put his hands on his hips.

“My birthday?”, you yawned.

Steve and Bucky looked at each other shocked. “Did you really forget about your birthday?”, Steve asked.

“I guess so!” you shrugged your shoulders and threw on your robe.

“Well we got you a gift!”, Bucky pulled out a box from his back pocket.

Your eyes lit up when you saw it, “AWWW you guys didn’t have too!”.

Steve scoffed, “Yeah right, like we would get nothing for our best gal.”

You rolled your eyes but you couldn’t hide that happy smile from creeping onto your face. Bucky placed the box into your hand; Steve and him both watched anxiously was you opened it.

The black velvet box felt soft under your fingers as you slowly opened it. Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped when you saw the beautiful gift. It was a silver necklace, with beautiful designs engraved into it. Not only was it a necklace but a locket. You took it out of the box and examined it even closer, “You guys this is beautiful, I don’t know what to say!”

“Open it”, Bucky smiled.

Your painted nail popped it open and you smiled from ear to ear when you saw the pictured inside. There were two pictures one of Bucky and one of Steve; tears started to brim your eyes when you saw the picture of tiny Steve. “Guys”, you choked out.

They sat on the bed next to you and smushed you between a muscley Steve and Bucky sandwich. “Happy Birthday doll, thank you for sticking with us through all this mess”, Bucky kissed you on the cheek.

“Like I had a choice”, you laughed sarcastically.

“Thanks for protecting my stupid ass”, Steve said with a laugh.

“Well I’ve been following you into fights for 8 years now, it’d be stupid for me to quit after this long”, you snuggled into them. Your head rested on Steve’s broad shoulder and Bucky placed his head on the back of yours. 

“Now we will be with you where ever you go, since that’s what you have been doing for us”, Steve said lovingly.

“Aw you guys this is the best gift ever, thank you so much”, your heart swelled with love.

You pulled the chain over your head and the locket hung perfect on your chest. 

“No matter what, we will always be there for you”, Bucky said.

“Guys you’re making it sound like you’re planning on leaving me”, you said nervously.

“Well, with what we do, we never know when that day will come”, Steve said sadly.

Your eyebrows knitted together, and the realization hit you. This wasn’t some kind of game, if one of you were too die that was it. There was no going back, and the fact that you constantly put yourself in a situation like that made your heart drop. You got up from your spot and started to pace around the tent with your face in your hands.

Bucky smacked Steve for saying something like that to you on your birthday, “Hey doll let’s not think about that, it’s your birthday, you’re the big 24, and we’re going to celebrate.” Bucky tried to lighten your mood.

“Oh geez I’m sorry (Y/N), don’t worry you can’t get rid of us that easily.” Steve came over and pulled you into a hug again to calm you down.

“Alright, you guys are buying the drinks then”, you said as a joke but you really meant it.

“Don’t worry we got it all planned! We will make your twenty-fourth year of life one to remember!” Bucky said with enthusiasm.

You didn’t know this, well none of you did, but this really would be the year you remembered, and maybe it wasn’t going to be in a good way.


	22. Chapter 22

“Hey what’s going on”, you asked Morita as you took a bite out of an apple.

You both were looking at Steve and Bucky who were surrounded by men with cameras.

“We are going to get filmed, for a documentary or something”, he said plainly.

You took another bite, and the crisp apple crunched under your teeth. “Ya think they are going to follow us into the fights?”. You wiped your mouth on your sleeve.

“Nahhhh they aren’t tough enough to deal with what we do, maybe a few though”, Morita said proudly.

You rolled your eyes at his statement, a man came walking over to you with a huge smile on his face. You were really confused as to why he was looking at you like that, maybe there was someone famous behind you. Your head turned to see who was behind you but there was no one. By the time you turned back around he was already in your face.

“You must be the lovely Ms. (L/N), I’ve heard so many great things about you”, he took your hand and shook it quickly.

You looked at Morita for some sort of answer but he was hiding his smile behind his hand.

“Uuuuuuh, thank you?” To be honest you weren’t really sure how to reply to him, this was very new for you. Steve was the one who always got the attention, now that you were getting some fame you didn’t know what to do.

“The name’s Carl by the way. You’re really an inspiration to many women.”

Your face instantly turned red and you looked around in shock. “Me? Are you sure you’re not looking for Peggy Carter, because she’s way more amazing than I-”

Carl cut you off, “Nope, the famous (Y/N), the woman who fought by Captain America’s side before he became America’s golden boy.”

“Are you serious?!” you gasped.

“Can we get a camera on (Y/N)?”, he shouted at an assistant. A guy was pushed towards you and the lens was literally an inch away from your face. You instantly put a hand up to cover the lens from your face. “Uh, I don’t think all this is necessary, I was just looking after my best friend”.

“Wow brave, and bashful! Somebody write down what she said, we can use that!” Somebody off to the side started to write something down in a tiny sketchbook.

“O-okay, I’m gonna go finish my apple….. somewhere other than here”, you awkwardly shuffled away from the camera and started to walk into the woods.

~~~

The cameras started to grow on you. They followed you around and when on missions they would go as far as they could before Steve had to order them to stay back for safety. Of course, the three of you had found a way for this to be fun for yourselves. 

When all the camera people were asleep, Bucky snuck into one of their tents and stole a camera. It took a bit for them to realize it was missing, but in the end they let Bucky keep it. They said ,”It’s a good way to get some insight into the troublesome trio”.

Honestly, you thought the title of the document was extremely cheesy, but you guessed it could be worse like, the golden trio or the Brooklyn threesome.

Bucky lugged the huge thing into Howard’s tent; where you and him were working on a new device.

“Hey (Y/N)!”, He said to get your attention.

You moved your focus to where Bucky was, a smile instantly broke out onto your face and you laughed. You put a hand on your hip and and your other hand behind your head, so you were posing like a model on a tacky bathing suit magazine.

“Beautiful!”, Bucky shouted from behind the camera. Howard decided to join you and he came up behind you and made a silly face into the camera. “Dorkiest scientists the world will ever have”, Bucky said with a laugh.

“Hey!”, you and Howard whined in unison.

“Whatcha workin on?”, Bucky moved the camera so it showed the tiny little tool you were messing with. “Is that just a noise maker?”, He asked unimpressed.

“That’s what we want everyone to think, but when you spin it, it makes a high frequency noise that will interfere with any technology in a mile radius”, You said proudly.

Bucky aimed the camera at your face and you smiled goofily into it.

“Alright Barnes, you gotta leave, we have a lot to work on!”, Howard shooed Bucky towards the opening of the tent.

“By stuff to work on you mean fonduing?”, Steve popped his head in.

You broke out into laughter at Steve’s self antagonizing joke. 

“Wow even Steve is making fun of himself, good thing I got it on tape”, Bucky said as he filmed Steve.

~~~

“You know when we go back to Brooklyn, maybe I’ll be a camera person”, Bucky said as he zoomed into Steve’s face .

“You do seem to be enjoying this Buck”, you laughed and finished braiding your hair.

Bucky zoomed back out and got the whole group into the frame. You jumped into view and threw your arms out like an airplane. “Aw (Y/N), you ruined the dramatic shot!”

You laughed, “You mean made it better”.

“Suuuuuure”, Bucky rolled his eyes and chuckled.

You ran from left to right in the camera’s frame. Nobody around seemed to be paying attention to you so you continued to run around looking like an idiot. Then you started to takes steps that made it look like you were going down stairs, “Bucky does it look like I'm descending?!”

He had to grab his stomach from how hard he was laughing at you. Honestly, you weren’t really doing it for the camera, you just wanted to hear Bucky’s laugh.

“Alright do another thing!”, he managed to say.

You walked back out of frame then you stuck your head back in, but you made a silly face. Each time your face popped back in you made a new facial expression. The first face you did mimicked a fish, then you did a crossed eye look, then you puffed out your cheeks like a squirrel. 

“This stuff better get used in that documentary, this is comedy gold”, you said jokingly.

~~~

Now the real fun was about to begin, it was about midnight and all the commandos were fast asleep. 

“Alright boys, let’s do this”, you said with a serious tone.

The three of you thought it would be a great idea to prank the commandos while they slept, and of course you would capture this on film. Each boy was going to get a makeover, you brought your make up bag with you while Steve held a candle and Bucky had the camera.

You were dying inside as you applied the lipstick to Dum Dum’s lips. Thank goodness these men slept like rocks, or this would’ve been a very dangerous mission.

“Aw look how pretty he looks”, Bucky whispered.

You bit your lip so you wouldn’t wake him up, “Shhh”.

Bucky zoomed in perfectly into each of their faces, then you quickly ran out. 

The three of you made sure to wake up before them so you could see their reactions. You guys were just eating your breakfast when you heard, “OH MY GOD”, from one of the tents.

“JONES LOOK AT YOU”.

“MORITA YOU ARE THE UGLIEST GIRL I HAVE EVER SEEN”.

“SPEAK FOR YOURSELF LOOK AT YA DUM DUM”.

“Qui a fait cela?!”

“WHO DO YOU THINK?!”

“FALSWORTH ACTUALLY LOOKS PRETTY!”

“I do?!”

Steve, Bucky and you looked at each other and broke out into a fit of laughter. Bucky instantly started to roll the camera so he could get their faces. All of the filed out of the tent and you were pretty sure you saw murder in their eyes when they looked at you.

“Oh no”, you muttered.

“Run!!”, Steve yelled.

Bucky filmed as he ran and said, “If we die, I would like to document that this was completely worth it.”

“Get back here you little shits!!”, Dugan yelled after you three.

You never thought putting makeup on men would be this rewarding!


	23. Chapter 23

The icy wind stung your face as you looked off in the distance. You stood on a ledge of a mountain with Steve, Bucky, and the rest of the commandos. There was a thick metal wire that sloped down to where there were train tracks. The plan was to use the wire to get on the train Dr. Zola was on. You weren’t a fan of this at all, but you couldn’t let Bucky and Steve do something this reckless by themselves, so here you were. 

“Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?”, Bucky asked as he looked down at the train tracks.

The memory of Steve freaking out on the ride made you laugh, “Yeah”, you said.

“And I threw up?”, Steve’s nose wrinkled at the thought of it.

“This isn’t payback, is it?”, Bucky looked at Steve.

“Now why would I do that?”, Steve said sarcastically.

Falsworth was squatting near a radio that he used that to intercept messages between the Hydra members. “We were right. Dr. Zola’s on the train. Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle.” Him and Steve shared a look and Steve nodded back at him.

“Wherever they’re going they must need him bad”, you stated as you threw your gun’s strap over your shoulder.

“Let’s get going, because they’re moving like the devil”, Gabe said.

Only Steve, Bucky, Gabe, and you would be getting on the train. It was too risky to put everyone on there. You could hear the train’s rumble approaching where you were stationed.

“We’ve only got about a ten second window. You miss that and we’re bugs on a windshield.” Steve handed you and Bucky a bar that had wheels on it so you could glide down the wire smoothly. You gulped nervously and looked at Bucky.

He could see the anxiety that was running through you, to be honest he was feeling just as nervous. Out of all the crap Steve has dragged the both of you through, never has he made you jump onto a moving train. 

“Better get moving bugs!”, Dugan yelled as the train seemed to be only seconds away. 

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. This was probably the most insane thing you would do for Steve.

Steve hooked his bar on the wire first and descended as the train moved into sight. Bucky, followed him, then you, and shortly after so did Gabe. Your hands gripped onto the bar as tight as they could, “hands don’t fail me now”, you thought. When the trains roof was only a foot below you, you let go. When you felt your shoes come into contact with it you bent down so you could hold onto something. 

The train was moving incredibly fast; the wind was so cold it felt your face was frozen! You couldn’t hear anything besides the wind in your ears. 

“(Y/N), you and Gabe go to the control room! We will take care of anybody else on here!”, Steve shouted.

You weren’t a fan of the idea of Bucky and Steve being alone, but those were you orders and you didn’t want to let anybody down. You turned your head and nodded at Gabe. He followed you as you made careful steps towards the front of the train. You turned and gave one last look at Steve and Bucky.

Bucky saw you and he gave you a thumbs up before he climbed down the ladder. He was shaking in his shoes and it wasn’t from the cold. Bucky didn’t tell Steve this, but he was deathly afraid of heights. He wasn’t always like this, it started ever since he was drafted into the war. If Steve knew this, he wouldn’t have made Bucky come on this mission.

After what seemed like forever, you finally got to the head of the train, conveniently there was an escape hatch placed right there. Gabe put one of his bombs on it and you moved a foot away so you wouldn’t be in the range of the explosion. Right when it went off, Gabe threw the top open and you dropped in. It was a nine foot drop, and surprisingly you landed like a badass. You pulled your gun out from behind you and point it at the five men in the room, Gabe did the same thing. It was a stare down, because you were obviously outnumbered, but nothing you couldn’t handle….hopefully. 

“Oh what do we have here?”, Dr. Zola strolled into the room. Your back was pressed against Gabe’s, and the barrel of your gun followed this odd man as he moved towards you. You gave him a stone cold stare, it looked like you were calm and collected but you were practically shitting yourself. “Did you bring along Captain America?”, the accented man asked.

Your jaw tightened and your gripped the gun tighter. Two out of the five men in the room were in huge tactical gear, they were holding guns that you have never seen before. Zola looked at where you were looking and smirked, “You men go find the annoying pest and his friend”. Without a second thought they left, making it only three targets to fight. “I hope you said goodbye to them before you came, they will not be coming back.”

You continued to keep your mouth shut, you were using all your strength not too shoot Zola right then and there. The objective was to take him hostage, not assassinate him.

“Sir, Captain America already took one down”, a man looking at the computer screens said.

“What?!”, Dr. Zola said in disbelief, he went over to the screen that showed every cart in the train. He pressed a few buttons, which made you look at the screens yourself. You saw Steve and Bucky walking, but then panic struck you. Steve and Bucky were separated, leaving Bucky alone with one of the hydra men. “One down, three more to go”, Zola smiled.

That was when you had enough, you pulled the trigger and shot a guy before he could pull out his own gun. It was havoc in there, you and Gabe shot left and right trying not to destroy anything that could damage the mission. Adrenaline ran through your veins as bullets bounced off the walls near your head. One of the men was advancing towards you and you were about to shoot when you heard your gun click. You ran out of ammo, so you had to do this the hard way. You popped out from behind your hiding spot and whacked the guy in the temple with your gun. He staggered backwards and pulled out a gun. A bullet grazed against the skin of your thigh making you hiss in pain. Once again you raised your weapon high above your head and brought it back down with all your might.

The man was out cold, and you could feel blood trickling down your leg. Gabe and you managed to take everyone out besides Zola. Stray hairs fell around your face and sweat dripped down your forehead. You took deep breaths as the adrenaline wore off and you started to feel every ounce of pain in your body. 

Dr.Zola slowly put his hands up in surrender when he realized he had no way out. “You’re really willing to put your life on the line for these boys? We could use somebody like you Ms. (L/N)”.

You rolled your eyes and motioned for Gabe to tie him up, “Well, I am with them till the end of the line, Zola”.

Zola gave one last look at a screen and smirked, “It looks like the end is now”.

Your eyebrows furrowed and you looked at the black and white screen, Bucky was holding Steve’s shield as Steve lay on the ground. A man with the gun the size of his torso came shooting at the two of them. Your eyes widened and you dashed out of the room as fast as you could. They were about seven carts away; you cursed at yourself to move faster as you sprinted through each doorway. You could hear the commotion get louder, the big man who was attacking Steve and Bucky fell five feet in front of you. You let out a breath of relief when you realized they would be okay. That quickly changed when you heard Steve yell out Bucky’s name. 

You ran into the cart and saw that the side of the wall was torn off. Steve’s shield and helmet were laying on the metal ground, but where were they?

“HANG ON!”, you heard Steve’s voice come from the huge hole in the wall. Your heart was racing as you ran to Steve’s voice. Your head peaked out and you saw Steve reaching out to Bucky who was hanging onto a bar for dear life. 

“BUCKY!!”, you shouted out to him. He looked up at you with tears in his eyes. “Bucky hold on!”

You felt like you were going to puke as you watched your best friend dangle from a speeding train.

When Bucky saw you he couldn’t tell if he was happy or sad. This may be the last time he got to see you and the thought of that killed him. He felt so hopeless, he tried to reach out to Steve’s hand but he was just too far. He didn’t want to go out like this, not now. It was bad enough that he was hanging over a huge drop, but he didn’t want to leave you and Steve alone in a war. He extended his hand one last time, hoping that he would be able to feel your warm embrace when all of this was over.

You watched as Bucky tried to grab onto Steve’s hand. You have never felt more helpless in your life, there was nothing you could do but hope Bucky would get out of this. Tears flew off your face as the wind blew your hair around. “Bucky, cmon you can reach!!”, you said encouragingly. 

Bucky’s finger just brushed Steve’s when the bar he was holding onto broke. You thought your whole world had just stopped. Bucky’s yell filled your ears as you watched him fall to his death. You reached out to him like somehow you could save him. His falling form faded out of view as the train continued to speed away. You dropped to your knees and screamed out at the top of your lungs. Your hand instantly went to the locket Bucky gave you and you held it thinking, hoping this was just a bad dream. Some how you would wake up and see him sleeping peacefully and you would be able to hold him. The image of Bucky’s face as he fell was plastered into your brain, this had to be some sick joke, this wasn’t real. You continued to sob out his name until you felt someone wrap their arms around you. 

Steve managed to move from his spot on the side of the train. He couldn’t believe his best friend had just died, and he failed to save him. Bucky always had his back and the one time Bucky really needed him he couldn’t help him. Steve tried so hard and he wasn’t enough. For the one person he loved, he wasn’t enough. This was his fault, if he hadn’t dragged Bucky into this he wouldn’t be dead. Steve’s heart ached and he needed you; he saw you on your knees crying your heart out. He dropped and put his arms around you, you were the last thing he had left to consider family. He couldn’t lose you; as he cried into your neck he vowed to never let what happened to Bucky, happen to you.


	24. Chapter 24

It was February 14th, one of your favorite days of the year. It was a tradition for you to buy the boys chocolate and to cook them a special dinner. The three of you never dated, except Bucky would find a gal occasionally. Since you all never had dates, you all made a pact to be each others’ Valentines each year. Steve would always have you something hand drawn by him and Bucky would go out and buy you the most beautiful flowers.

This would be the second year all three of you didn’t spend Valentine's day together.

Steve fixed his tie in front of the mirror and smiled at you nervously. 

“Don’t worry about Bucky and I, just enjoy tonight”, you said to him reassuringly. 

Steve’s body loosened up a bit, “What if I say something stupid”.

Bucky scoffed, “You do that enough, she’s probably used to it”. You sighed and pushed Bucky right off the bed that the two of you were sitting on. He gasped in shock and toppled over right in front of Steve’s feet. 

Steve laughed and helped pick up his friend, “You are such a jerk”.

“And you’re the biggest punk ever”, Bucky argued back.

You crossed your arms and leaned against the floral wallpapered wall. “And you both are idiots”.

“Your idiots”, Steve and Bucky both said in unison.

You let out an airy laugh and rolled your eyes, “Yeah, but I guess that’s not a bad thing”.

Steve checked the clock on the wall near you and his eyes widened, “Oh crap I have to go pick her up!” He ran around the room trying to get everything he needed. He shoved on his shoes and grabbed the bouquet of beautiful roses. Steve was halfway out the door when he stopped and looked at you and Bucky, “Stay out of trouble, if things go well… I’ll see you in the morning”.

You brought your hand up to your forehead and mock saluted him, “Aye aye captain”.

The corner of Steve’s lips curved up and he shook his head then closed the door.

“You’re not funny”, Bucky said jokingly.

“Really, I thought that one was pretty good”, you frowned.

Bucky plopped on the bed next to you and placed his beer bottle on the wooden floor.

“He’s growin up so fast”, he said with a sad smile. “It’s just like yesterday we were saving him from an alley fight, now he is saving the world.”

You looked down at your folded hands and smiled, “Yeah, I’m proud of him. He deserves this”. Bucky nodded his head in agreement then took another swig of his beer. There was a long pause of silence between the two of you. 

“It was nice of Howard to pay for our room”, Bucky spoke up. The SSR let you all take a break for a bit since you were at a cute town in Switzerland. You’ve been running around blowing up Hydra bases for weeks now, it was nice to get a break and not have to constantly worry about getting shot at.

“Yeah, he’s the best!”, you exclaimed as you admired the beautiful room. 

Bucky wouldn’t admit it but he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy when he heard you say that. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Howard lately. He couldn’t blame you, the two of you were great for each other. Atleast Howard could take care of you, unlike him Bucky barely had 30 dollars to his name. He wanted you so bad, you were all he could ever think about. When he’d wake up, the first thing he would look at was you and when he was falling asleep the image of you filled his mind. It’s been like that for eight years now, and he would rather die than never be able to think about you again.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be with Howard tonight?”, Bucky said with a hint of resentment.

You looked at him confused, your mouth slightly opened by how shocked you were at his suggestion. “Why would you think that?”

“He seems to care about you a lot”, Bucky wouldn’t make eye contact with you.

“Bucky… Howard and I are just friends, plus Valentine’s day is our tradition.”

“Only a tradition”, he said with a disappointed look .

“James Buchanan Barnes what does that mean?”, you raised an eyebrow, and looked at him like a mother scolding a child.

Bucky’s heart began to pound against his chest at the thought of confessing his feelings for you. He didn’t know if you just thought of him as a friend, but he knew that you were much more than that to him. Blush spread across his cheeks and he looked down at the maple colored floor.

You squinted your eyes questionably at him; you made your way over to Bucky. The bed dipped down as you sat; you grabbed his face and slowly made him look at you, “James what are you thinking about?”

His blue eyes met your (E/C) eyes, “I just care about you a lot, (Y/n).”

You were slightly disappointed with his answer, but you weren’t sure what you were expecting.

“Prove it” you said softly.

Bucky looked at you cherry colored lips as you said that. His heart practically skipped a beat, and he put his beer on the table next to the bed. When he turned around he didn’t give you anytime to prepare yourself. His lips smashed against yours with passion and he ran a hand through your hair.

You put a hand on his face and grabbed a hand full of his hair. Your lips battled against each others, and you could taste the alcohol on his lips. It was a bit nutty with a hint of lemon. Bucky put a hand on your back and slowly laid you down on the bed. You two parted to get a breath of air. Bucky smiled at you lovingly as he looked down at you.

Your heart was racing, all you wanted was him, and you would be damned if you didn’t get more . You grabbed his dangling dog tags, and pulled on it so his lips would meet yours again. His hair tickled your forehead as his face came closer. His calloused hands roamed your body and traced words of affection against your skin. You didn’t know what he was saying, but Bucky basically admitted his feelings for you.

One thing led to another and by the end of the night you found yourselves wrapped in a blanket cuddling by the fire. You both were completely naked and the thought of what had just happened brought blush onto your face. There was no way you had just had sex with James Barnes, this had to be a dream. Your head laid against his back and you squeezed your eyes shut as hard as you could to make sure you weren’t hallucinating. When you opened your eyes, your gaze was met with Bucky’s messy brown hair and muscular back. You exhaled with contentment, tonight went way better than you thought. Since Steve wasn’t going to be around you figured it wouldn’t be as fun, but boy were you wrong. Tonight you came into realization with how much you truly loved Bucky. Not just as a best friend but maybe as something much more meaningful. Yeah, Bucky wasn’t your first, but he made it feel like it. There was so much passion and love in every kiss you thought your heart would burst.

“I love you. Did you know that?”, Bucky said quietly. You could hear his voice vibrating through his back since your head was still placed against it. You looked up at him and shook your head as a “yes”.

“I love you too Bucky”.

“I will always love you no matter what,” he turned around so he could look you in the eyes.

Your eyes filled with tears of happiness, all you could do was smile. He brought his hands to your face and kissed your forehead. “I won’t ever leave you again, either”.

You looked up at him, “promise?”

“I promise”, he kissed you again and the two of you watched the fire glow until you dragged yourselves to bed.

~~~

Alone once again. You lost count of the days. Nothing mattered to you anymore; the loss of Bucky hit you hard. He was now just a memory, a memory that brought you to tears every time. When he died a part of you did too, he was a part of you, and now he was gone. He deserved so much better, it killed you knowing he died by his worst fear.

You isolated yourself away from everybody, not even Steve was with you. You both dealt with Bucky’s loss differently, just being with Steve brought back to many memories. You opened up the locket Bucky gave you so you could look at his face again. It wasn’t the same but you never wanted to forget what he looked like. 

“You promised,” your voice was shaky as you spoke to the picture of Bucky. “Why would you do that to me Buck?”

If anybody saw you they would have thought you were crazy, but honestly you didn’t care. How do you just go on with you life when your best friend was gone forever? You loved him more than you loved yourself, him and Steve were everything you aspired to be. Now you didn’t want to be anything, you just wanted to be numb and never have to feel again. Your nights were sleepless and you rarely ever ate or left your tent.

The camera people filmed you from afar. They let you grieve in peace but they still wanted to get it on film. Your sobs could be heard on the other side of the thin tarp fabric of the tent, and they could even hear you “talking” to Bucky. It pained everyone to hear you in so much pain; Peggy and some of the commandos attempted to comfort you, but you were so emotionless and it was as if you were dead too. The camera crew weren’t proud of using your grief as a source of entertainment but they knew it would be great for the movie. Sadly now, you guys were no longer the troublesome trio.


	25. Chapter 25

One last mission, that’s all that was left. The chase after Schmidt had finally hit an end, and you couldn’t be happier. Well…. as happy as you could get, which wasn’t very much. You constantly had an emotionless expression on your face; that warm, bright smile has been gone for a month now. Your chest constantly ached and felt tight, as if somebody was slowly squeezing your heart. It was hard for you to not think about Bucky, but you had to keep moving on and help Steve. You knew he was watching you from somewhere, whether it be heaven or some other place. The locket he gave you was worn twenty-four seven. It was like if you kept it on he would be there with you; it was your good luck charm. Every night you fell asleep with it in the palm of your hand and when you woke up you would kiss your closed fist that held it. Maybe you were insane for getting so attached to an object like that but honestly it was the only thing that kept you sane.

You just left a meeting with Steve, Peggy, Howard, the commandos and Colonel Philips. Steve went over the plan for the last attack on Schmidt. Over the past months you guys have ran him into a dead end and he had no other base to run too. This would end everything, hopefully it would be Hydra that was ending and not your lives. During the briefing you kept your head down and just listened. You could feel Steve’s eyes practically burning through you. Steve and you handle grief differently than one another, you pushed away the ones who loved you but you were still there for Steve. Everything hurt, so you decided to make yourself numb to emotions. Nobody said this was a good idea, but then again you never asked for anybody’s opinion on it. Steve needed to be with people and he became extremely serious, he never cracked stupid jokes and he rarely smiled. When he was with Peggy was the only time he could replace that empty feeling Bucky’s death left behind.

During the briefing Steve couldn’t stop looking at you; he never really saw you besides meetings and missions. If everyone else wasn’t around he would’ve scooped you up into a tight hug, he missed you so much. You were the only thing left that he had to home, and he yearned for your loving embrace. He held himself back because he knew you were different now, and he respected that you needed to adjust yourself. He still cared about you though, no matter what the circumstances he would love you. 

~~~

You had suited up and had everything you needed. You and the commandos will be waiting up high so when Steve gave you the signal, you could ambush the base. Colonel Philips, Peggy, and volunteered soldiers will be waiting on the ground to attack. 

The all familiar cold wind created goosebumps down your spine. The commandos and you were stationed on a cliff that faced the base, that had a huge window in replacement for a wall. There was snow everywhere and it was completely silent. Stray pieces of your hair blew around your face as you stared at the glistening window. Your body trembled as you waited for your queue. An arm wrapped itself around your shoulders, and you looked over your left shoulder in surprise.

Dum Dum greeted you with a warm smile, “You ready to be done with all this?”, he asked.

You gave the best smile you could, “Yeah, I’m tired of chasing around this asshole.”

“There’s the (Y/n) I know”, he squeezed your shoulder and went back to his spot next to Morita.

“How about we get some drinks after this?”, Gabe suggested. There was a unison of agreements from the men.

You huffed out an airy laugh, “Are you guys always thinking about alcohol?” You still didn’t turn around to face them.

“Only when we need it….. which is always”, Gabe said sarcastically. He couldn’t see your face but he knew that you were smiling. 

Suddenly, your communicator started to light up. This was your queue to smash through the window with the other commandos. Steve had his own device that when he pressed the button it would light up yours. 

“Alright boys time to fuck some shit up”, you said with a mischievous grin. With that you hooked yourself to the wire that ran all the way to the window. The slope was steep but this would give you enough momentum to be able to break through the window with at least two bullet holes. You gave yourself a push off and you were going full speed towards the base, the other boys were on their own wires next to you. 

Your heart was racing and all you could hear was the wind whistling in your ears. As you came closer to the window you got your gun out and shot two bullets through it. By the time you were done your feet came into contact with the window. Since you made weak points in it, you easily broke through the glass. Thinking quickly you unlatched yourself from the wire; you were still going fast so you lost your balance and somersaulted on the ground when you landed. You didn’t have enough time to process anything before all hell broke loose. The Hydra men started shooting at you guys right away. You saw Steve fighting men without his shield; you looked around and saw it laying in the distance. Quickly you got up and ran towards it, as you ran you dodged the blue rays that came out of Hydra’s guns. 

You saw what those things did to people and you did not want to end up like them. Only three feet away from the shield; you had to slide down to avoid another shot. Using your speed as you slid, you grabbed the shield and got right back up in one swift movement.

You called out, “STEVE”, to get his attention before using all your strength to throw the metal disc towards him. Surprisingly you threw that pretty accurately and he caught it with ease. Now that Steve was taken care of it was time to defend yourself. 

You had a gun in each hand and you were making the men drop like flies. Steve left the room so you followed him and covered his back.

Steve was so consumed in the chaos that he didn’t even realize that you were following him. He was focused, this could be the last mission and he would do anything to keep it that way. These people caused him to lose his best friend, he was going to make them feel hell. As he ran down the hallway a voice pulled him out of his thoughts, “Hey I’ve got your back, Steve!” In a split second of hearing that he was pulled back into a memory. It was getting dark and everything was in black and white again. Sixteen year old you was sitting on a bench in front of him and you grabbed his tiny, skinny hand. Your pinkies interlocked and you said, “I pinkie promise to have your back. I said it the first day we met, remember?”. He was taken back to the first year you guys became friends. He never realized how much you’ve been there for him. You took two trouble making boys and helped them grow into respectable men. Never once have you left their sides. Even through all the cold winters and nights spent staying awake due to Steve’s coughs. 

He stopped dead in his tracks out of nowhere, causing you to run full speed into his strong back. You looked up at him in confusion, “Steve?”. Steve turned around with eyes filled with tears. This confused you because he was perfectly fine a minute ago. “Hey, uh you okay?”, you asked.

For the first time in a month Steve pulled you into a tight hug. Your arms hung by your side for a second, while you still had guns in each hand. Your eyebrows furrowed, but your expression softened into a sad smile as you hugged him back.

He grabbed you head and pressed a kiss into the side of your head. You could hear footsteps coming towards you so you quickly moved your head and aimed your guns at them. Seeing that they were not on the same team, you shot at them and killed all three of them without leaving Steve’s embrace.

“Steve… this probably isn’t the best time for this”, you said with a sense of urgency. You two were out in the open for anybody to just come by and kill you.

Steve pulled away and exhaled, “Yeah… you’re right, you just said something that triggered me. I won’t let it happen again”. 

He went to leave but you grabbed his arm, “Everything is going to be okay”. You could read Steve like a book and you could just see the anxiety washing over him. He looked back at you and gave you a sorrowful smile. Before he could reply Peggy ran down the hall towards you two.

“You two taking a break already?”, she said with her signature English accent.

You rolled your eyes playfully and Steve blushed, “Do you have the whereabouts on Schmidt?”, he asked her to change the subject.

“I think so, there is a plane in the garage that seems to be getting ready to take off. Now, I recommend we send our men down there to help delay the departure”, Peggy answered back.

Steve looked at you for an answer and you shrugged your shoulders, “Whatever you want to do Captain”.

“Okay Peggy, tell Colonel to bring the fight to Hydra. Care to lead the way Agent?”, Steve asked.

Peggy smirked, “Alright follow me then. Try not to fall behind (Y/N)”, she looked over her shoulder and winked at you. 

You just shook your head and ran behind them until you reached the area with all the commotion. There had to be about a hundred men fighting it out in there. There was never a second of silence, and it was hard to focus on one thing, but of course Steve could still keep himself grounded. 

The three of you went your separate ways but you kept your eyes on him as you fought. You were exhausted, you had to use all the strength in your body just to throw a simple punch. There were still too many men but you couldn’t give up now. It felt so hopeless, every muscle burned and you had a few cuts on you that stung like hell. Without the adrenaline you would have for sure passed out by now. 

You were the closest one to the plane so when you saw Schmidt going for it, you had to intervene. You forgot that he was stronger than an average man until he gave you a strong punch to the gut. The air got knocked out of you and you instantly grabbed at your stomach. Of course, you didn’t let him go without getting a bullet in the back of his leg.

He was advancing towards the plane quickly and you had to get Steve’s attention. You cupped your hands around your mouth and shouted Steve’s name. Then you sprinted towards Schmidt to somehow stop him, even though he was already 75% up the ladder. 

Steve heard your voice and turned to see you in a chase that was futile. He plowed through the men and would use his shield to throw a few to the side who were in his way. His eyes scanned for some other way to catch up; that’s when he saw a rope with a hook. Quickly, he jumped on top of boxes and took a leap towards the rope. His hands gripped it tight as he swung over the fighting people below him. He dropped down next to you and didn’t even stubble. 

“What were ya takin a nap?”, you said breathlessly as you continued to run towards the now slowly moving plane.

Steve couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, “Sorry, I found a nice box and just had to take a quick snooze”.

“I would laugh, but I kinda can’t breath”, you wheezed.

The plane sped up and you were falling behind, while Steve had a steady pace going. Your lungs couldn’t take it anymore, they felt like they were on fire. You had to stop, there was no way you would catch up to that thing. Suddenly you heard a car engine off in the distance. In seconds, your hair was whipped into your face and a car screeched to a stop next to you. You pushed your (H/C) hair out of your face with frustration, but your face lit up when you saw Peggy and Colonel Philips in the hot rod of a car.

“Get in!”, Peggy encouraged. 

You hopped into the back seat and before you had the chance for your butt to hit the seat, the Colonel floored it. Your body jerked back at the sudden force, and the car sped up to Steve. Steve jumped into the back with you, and once again the Colonel drove straight for the plane. 

“I’m going to climb in from the wheels, just get me close enough to reach it!”, Steve shouted over the wind.

“Alright I’ll come with you!”, you yelled back.

Steve didn’t seem to acknowledge your decision, but you just figured he knew you would do that. As the car approached the plane Steve started to slowly stand up, and you followed his lead.

“Get me a little closer!!”, Steve ordered.

Colonel Philips brought the car closer so that it was just in Steve’s arm reach. You were running out of time to get on it because the runway was going to end, and you didn’t want to stick around to see the drop. 

Steve was about to jump up to a bar but Peggy stopped him, “Steve wait!” She tugged on his uniform and brought him down to her level. She pressed her red lips against his, and it was as if Steve was frozen in the moment.

You watched them awkwardly; you still got a twinge of jealousy as he kissed her.

They parted slowly, and that was all that Steve needed to keep going. He jumped up on the wheel’s bar and he turned down to look at you.

You reached up your arm so he could pull you up, “C’mon give me a hand!”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned into a frown. Instead of helping you up he just said, “Take care of yourself”, and turned to climb up the beam.

You were engulfed in confusion, what just happened?! Did he really just leave you? You became angry and you yelled at him to come back. “STEVEN GRANT ROGERS GET BACK HERE!!! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!!” He gave you a pained glance as the wheels to the plane elevated and he was taken into it. You just kept on yelling at him to come back, like if you did it enough he would reappear. “STEVE!!………….YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME HERE!” There was so much desperation in your voice, and angry tears started to fill your eyes. You were about to jump out of the moving car after him but Peggy held you back.

“What are you crazy?”, she asked you.

“Steve…. that little… I can’t believe he did that!”, you said through gritted teeth. 

The car came to a screeching halt as the Colonel tried to stop the car as it started to slide towards the cliff. You didn’t even notice how close to death you were because you were too lost in thought. The car stopped just in time so only one tire hung off the side of the huge drop. The whole time your eyes followed the plane that Steve was on. 

You frowned and leaped out of the car, you instantly sprinted away and under your breath you muttered, “Bucky is going to kill me”.

Peggy heard what you said and looked at you in confusion, “Bucky?” 

You didn’t hear Peggy question what you said, you were too busy trying to find somehow to help Steve. You ran back into the garage and the fighting was dying down. Almost all the Hydra men were taken out, so you easily ran through without being shot at. To be honest you had no idea what you were planning on doing, but you couldn’t just stand around like an idiot while your best friend put his life on the line. Just to make sure you would be safe if someone were to attack you, you picked up a gun from a dead hydra goon. 

You ran down the empty halls, all you could hear was your shaky breaths and the occasional gun shot. Your boots echoed down the narrow, metal hall as you lightly jogged to your unknown destination. 

The sound of static as you passed a room caught your attention. You back tracked and slowly entered the room, your (E/C) eyes scanned the room for any hidden threats. When you decided that the coast was clear you let your guard down and sat in a chair that was in front of communicators and a microphone. You figured this was a control room since there were radars and screens that had a view of some of the rooms in the base. Curiosity took over and your fingers hesitantly turned the knobs. As you turned the the static began to clear up and you heard grunts and the sound of fighting coming through the speakers. Then it went silent again, you just figured you were hearing one of the men’s radios coming through so you were about to get up and leave until you heard a voice that made your heart jump.

“Come in this is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?”, Steve’s voice echoed through the silent room.

Your eyebrows rose and you attention instantly went back to the controls. You excitedly pressed the button on the microphone. “STEVE! Are you okay?! You asshole, I can’t believe you left me here!!” Your voice of concern transformed into anger when you remembered the events from earlier.

“(Y/N)?!”, Steve said in surprise. He wasn’t expecting to hear your voice, but with his circumstances he was glad that he did. “Schmidt is dead”, Steve added.

“Good!! Are you on your way back?!”, you asked anxiously.

“Well there’s a problem…..”

When you heard Steve say that all your hopes of this ending well died. “What… what do you mean? Just give me your coordinates!”

“There’s nowhere to land (y/n).”

Your heart was pounding and you searched the screen for Steve’s location. “Steve, just give me your damn coordinates, you’re coming back home!”

“I’m going to try to force it down, this thing is moving too fast and it’s heading for New York. I got to put her in the water”, Steve was biting back his tears.

“Steve, please! I can help you!”, you pleaded.

“There’s not enough time, if I wait any longer a lot of people are going to die!”

You began to cry, why was this happening?! This was the last mission, this was supposed to put an end to Hydra, not Steve. “Steve, don’t do this!”

“I’m sorry, it has to be done”, Steve pulled out an old picture of you and Bucky, from three months ago; when everything was okay. He needed to see your faces one last time before he crashed himself into ice. 

You were shaking, and there was a constant flow of tears flowing out of your eyes. “Steve…. you can’t leave me. I already lost Bucky; you’re all I have!”

Steve couldn’t help but start crying as he heard your pleas. He always hated hearing you cry, and knowing that he was the reason for them killed him. He didn’t want to leave you but he needed to sacrifice himself for the greater good. “Please stay strong for me (Y/N)”.

“Oh god, don’t do this too me!”, you cried out.

“You’re going to do great things, okay? You’re going to be okay”, Steve tried his best to comfort you as he descended down.

“I need you!! I should be there with you!”, you said in between sobs.

“That’s exactly why I didn’t take you. Ever since after what happened to Bucky…. I promised to keep you away from things like this.” Steve could see that he had only seconds before death so he had to say one last time, “I love you, I love you so much, never forget that”.

Hearing that broke your heart, “I-I love you too Steven”, you choked out. There was the sound of static and you began to panic, “Steve….. Steve?!” He was officially gone. Your mind still couldn’t process this, you just lost you’re only two best friends in one year. You crossed your arms and leaned them over the control panels. You hid your face in them and cried, your back bounced with each sob.

You didn’t know how long you were there but Peggy found her way to you. “(Y/N)?! I’ve been looking all over for you!” You didn’t bother to look up at her. “What happened?”, she asked with concern.

“Steve”, was all you could say.

“I’m sure he’s alright, he’ll be coming back”, she said hopefully.

“No… he’s dead. He crashed”, your throat was tight and talking was painful.

“What, I- I don’t understand”, Peggy said in disbelief.

You picked up your head, “HE’S DEAD PEGGY! HE’S NOT COMING BACK!!”, angry, hot tears ran down your cheeks.

Peggy put a hand over her mouth to cover up her sob. She quickly walked out the room to inform Howard, and the Colonel of the news. She tried to keep her composure as she walked but there was no use. 

You felt guilty for yelling at her like that, she loved Steve too, and you had no right to lash out like that. Your emotions were everywhere, this was just too much for you. Usually, you would go to Bucky or Steve for comfort, but now who was there to run too? There was only you, you would have never guessed that this would be how it ended. The mission was successful, which means you could go home… but did you even have a home anymore? Home wasn’t just your little shoe box apartment, it was the arms of your best friends.


	26. Chapter 26

The war has finally ended, and you no longer had to fight. It was time to go home.. or to whatever was left of it. You haven’t had time to send your parents a letter saying you were coming home, so it would be a surprise for them. You also didn’t tell them about the deaths of Bucky and Steve, but they would surely hear about the death of great Captain America. The thing you hated is that you knew that people would cry over Captain America’s death but not Steve’s; nobody would know Steve like you, and honestly nobody deserved to. 

Howard used his private plane to take you back to Brooklyn. You loved Howard but even all his jokes couldn’t help cheer you up.

“Come on sweetheart, you’re going home. No more getting shot at, or fighting”, Howard said as he put a comforting hand on your knee.

Your chin rested in the palm of your hand as you continued to watch the clouds from your window seat on the plane. You sighed, “I know Howard, but it’s going to be so lonely now…” 

Howard’s face softened with sympathy, “Oh (Y/n), I know it’ll be hard. If you ever get lonely just drop by my mansion.”

You scoffed, “Thanks.” Your word came out harsher than you intended and you looked at Howard with an apologetic face. He just gave you a smile; he understood that you’re going through a tough time and he wasn’t about to hold that against you.

The ride was pretty silent after that; when you landed Howard had a taxi ready for you. It was nice to be back in America after two years, but it wasn’t the same. The weather was gloomy and it was beginning to get chilly already. 

An hour went by and you were finally rolling up the old familiar street of your apartment. Nothing changed much, except there weren’t any children playing outside. Your eyebrows furrowed at the empty streets. 

“You can stop here”, you said to the kind driver.

The car pulled to a stop and you slowly got out of the car. Your heels clinked against the bricked ground. You pulled your trunk out with ease, and that seemed to impress the man. You gave him little smile and handed him the money you owed. You were frozen into place as you absorbed your surroundings. There was something that caught your eye in a puddle. You put down your trunk and walked over to it; it was a wet newspaper but what was on it surprised you.

“The troublesome trio is no more! (Y/N) (L/N) will be coming back home without her boys by her side! “

You just shook you head and got your stuff, the stairs were a lot steeper than you remembered. You could just imagine how much trouble Steve used to have climbing up them with big, brown paper bags of groceries. The memory brought a sad smile to your lips and you huffed out as you dropped your heavy trunk on the ground. You dug around in your dress pocket for the key, once you found it, you stuck it in the lock. The door clicked and you slowly pushed it open. 

The apartment was dark except for a few rays of light peaking through your cheap curtains. Bucky picked them, you personally thought they were awful but he insisted on getting them. You walked towards them and threw them open. The room looked sadder than before, the cloudy sky filled it with a grey color. All the furniture was in the same place as when you left them. Good thing your mom volunteered to cleaning it while you were gone or the place would be covered in dust. 

You flicked a light switch to help make the place a little more home like. You were exhausted so you plopped down on your old lumpy couch, but you suddenly felt a sharp pain on your butt. You got up to investigate what caused you pain and it was one of Steve’s sketching pencils that somehow found its way in between the couch cushions. You let out a little laugh and tossed it onto the coffee table.

“Steve stop leaving your pencils on the couch!”, you yelled out. When silence was the only reply you got, you remembered what happened. You swallowed the lump in your throat as you fought off tears. No crying, you’re tougher than this.

~~~~

“C’mon no crying, you’re tougher than this!”

You looked up through your tear filled eyes, and you watched the young blonde wrapping your knees in bandages.

“Oh (Y/N), you’re only 16 not 20, ya can’t be pickin fights with older kids.”, said Bucky.

You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand and Steve started cleaning your cut on your arm. “They weren’t 20 Buck, maybe 18 at the least.”

“Still! What were ya thinkin’?! Can’t be actin like Steve!”, Bucky passed Steve a wet cloth.

You hissed at the pressure Steve put on your wound. “They were makin’ fun of you guys, sayin you guys were gays and that they were gonna get ya”, you looked down ashamed.

Steve looked up in shock at what you confessed and gave Bucky a worried look. Bucky shrugged Steve off, “Couple of cowards if they gon’ beat up a bunch of kids younger than them”. Bucky sat on the couch next to you and slung his arm around your shoulders, “I’m proud of ya for sticking up for us, but we don’t like it when you get hurt.”

Steve finished the bandage on your arm and sat on the other side of you. “Yeah thanks, but we aren’t worth getting hurt over.”

“It’s just a flesh wound no big deal”, you sniffled.

“You’re a very strong person, (Y/n)”, Steve said with a smile.

~~~~

You couldn’t live in this place anymore. You started to pack up boxes of Bucky’s and Steve’s old stuff. After the ceremony for them you decided to move in with Howard since you were going to start working with him. Your parents thought it was a great idea and that it would help you move on. You kept some of Bucky’s old shirts and Steve’s sketch books. You didn’t want to give their stuff away so all the boxes would be kept in Howard’s basement. The place was practically all packed up and all the furniture was being donated to shelters. 

You looked through all the drawers and cabinets one last time to see if you forgot anything. You opened up a drawer at the end of the kitchen counter and found the newspaper you were supposed to show Bucky after the war. The first newspaper Steve was ever in, he saved a child and took down a hydra agent right after being injected with the serum. You took it out and folded it into your jacket pocket. 

People were supposed to come to move the boxes during the ceremony you were having for Steve and Bucky. You didn’ t have their bodies but you thought it would only be right to show respects and give them a grave, even if it would be empty. 

There was a light knock on your apartment door, since it was almost time for you to leave, you figured it was the men to move the boxes. Instead you were met with Peggy.

“Hey Peg, I wasn’t expectin’ ya”, you opened the door for her to come in.

“Yes, I’m sorry for coming without an invitation, but I wanted to come to the ceremony with you”, she held in her breath to keep her from crying and she looked down. Her black hat covered her eyes when she looked down. You pulled her into a tight hug, and placed her head into the crook of your neck. This was all that Peggy needed to break down in your arms. “I miss him so dearly”, she sobbed.

“I know Peggy so do I, we can get through this okay?”, you lightly pushed her away so you could look her in the eyes.

There was another knock on the door and now you were sure that it was the helpers. You were correct so you told them to be careful with the stuff and you left with Peggy.

The ceremony was nice; a lot of people actually showed up. Your parents, Bucky’s sisters, Howard, the commandos, Colonel Philips, neighbors, Marco from the bakery, and even a few people you’ve never met. Everyone left to go eat lunch together, but you stayed behind and sat in front of the two graves that you never imagined you would have to see. It was completely silent in the graveyard besides a few leaves being blown around; it was very serene and peaceful. You didn’t even realize you had started talking to the headstones in front of you.

“Hey fellas… I hope you are happy wherever you are.” You paused and took a shaky breath. “I miss you guys so much. Sorry I had to sell our crappy apartment, I know you guys loved it. It’s just too hard for me to live there alone.” You let out a little laugh, “Don’t worry I didn’t throw your stuff away, it’s going into Howard’s basement where I know it’s safe.” There was a strong gust of wind that made your hair blow into your face, “Hey now don’t get mad, I’m moving in with Howard. He’s a good guy and you know that. But don’t worry you guys aren’t going to get replaced, there’s a special place for you two in my heart. It’s just time for me to move on…” 

You clutched the locket in your hand, and you heard leaves crunching behind you. Instincts kicked in from the war and you turned around ready to fight, but it was just Peggy. Your body relaxed and you turned back around. She took a seat next to you and stared at the carvings in Steve’s headstone. 

There was silence until you spoke up first, “Steve would have loved to see the colors of the fall leaves here.”

“My only regret is that he never got a chance to live his life after the serum”, Peggy said shamefully.

“Yeah, he never got to stop and smell the roses”, you said light heartedly. “They deserved so much better.”

“Well they had you, I’m not sure how much better it could get”, Peggy smiled at you. That put a smile on your face and you took in a deep breath. It’s time to let it go, go out and start again.


	27. Chapter 27

“The Troublesome Trio will be coming to theaters near you! It’s an action packed true story about three best friends defeating a secret Nazi organization and saving the world! Starring Steve Rogers, James Barnes, and (Y/N) (L/N)! Come watch this heart-warming adventure with your family and friends!” 

You turned down the radio in your room as Howard walked in.

“Ready for the big premiere tonight doll?”, he said leaning against the door frame.

You laid back down on your bed, “I guess, can I just not go?”

Howard made a shocked face and strode into your room. “Not go? NOT GO? Sweety, you have to go, they made a movie about you..”

“AND Steve and Bucky… How do they expect me to go without them?”, you threw your arms over your face. You felt the bed dip down next to you.

“(Y/n)... do it for them. People deserve to know how amazing they were, and nobody knows them like you.” Howard got up quickly and headed towards your closet. “PLUS, I already got you a dress!”

You lifted up your arm slightly so you could take a peak. “I thought if I didn't have a dress ya wouldn't make me go!”

Howard laughed, “ I knew you would pull something like that!” He walked over and held the dress in front of him. “I mean I know the dress looks way better on me but I think you would look beautiful in it.”

You looked up to see a gorgeous rose gold and white strapless dress hanging in front of Howard. “That's for me? You're kidding Stark! How much did that cost you?!” You got off the bed quickly and ran your hand over the dress material.

“Just enough. Now you gotta try it on for me, just to make sure I got the measurements right”, he smirked at you.

You rolled your eyes playfully and grabbed the dress from his hands. “Alright, you didn't happen to buy me shoes too did ya?”, you said jokingly.

“Well actually Jarvis did that one, he’s really got an eye for shoes.” Howard took the shoe box off your dresser and put it in your hands. “You'll look amazing!”

You walked into your bathroom to change. Honestly you had doubts about this dress, yeah it was stunning but could you pull it off? You weren't too fond of your body and you had scars all over you from the war. Howard said it built character and that it was hot, but that was Howard and he found everything attractive.

You pulled the dress up and zipped it up. The dress fit surprisingly well and it was perfectly snug in all the right places. You stared at yourself in the mirror and spotted a scar on your left arm. It was from a bullet wound and it did not heal as nicely as you hoped.

“(Y/N) are you done yet?!”, Howard called from your room.

You looked back at yourself with insecurity, “Uh yeah I guess.”

The door to your bathroom creaked as you opened it, leading Howard's attention to you as you hesitantly entered the room. Howard's jaw dropped and he clapped his hands together, “My god you look even more beautiful than I could ever imagine!”

Your eyes lit up with hope, “Really?” Your right hand was covering your scar and Howard's eyebrows furrowed when he realized that.

“Can you put your hand down, I gotta see the whole thing”, he asked.

“Howard…”

“Cmon”, he walked over to you and put his hand around your wrist. “You look stunning, a little scar won't ruin that.” He moved your hand down by your side and swallowed your beauty in. “See it's not even bad, you look like a badass”, he gave you that Stark smirk.

Blush crept up your face, “Girls shouldn't have scars like this, everyone is going to look at me weird and it'll be all over the newspapers.” You looked down at your feet.

Howard couldn't stand hearing you speak like this anymore, “You should be proud of that scar. It's proof that you lived through hell and came out alive. You're the real deal (Y/N) and any woman would be lucky to be as great as you.”

Howard warmed your heart with his little speech and you couldn't help but smile. “Okay okay, thanks Howard.”

He leaned in a placed a light kiss on your cheek, “No problem, well I got a hairdresser and makeup artist coming over in a few minutes so be ready to be pampered.”

_________________________________________________________

It was now or never, but honestly you would prefer never. You could see the crowd of people in front of the theater. A ball of anxiety tightened your chest, you were arriving alone but Howard and Peggy would be right behind you. The fact that you were missing your two best friends for this moment killed you inside. You shut your eyes and took a sharp, deep breath. Keep it together you’ll be fine.

You felt the car slow down to a stop and the cameras’ flashes outside were already attacking you like lightning.

The driver got out of the car and walked to your side, he kindly opened the door for you and you thanked him. You stuck your feet out the car first and gracefully got out like you were the queen on the town. Your dress sparkled in the camera flashes and your hair shined like silk. The lights were blinding and your ears were filled with a bunch of different questions and commands to “look here.” Your adrenaline was pumping and the flashes started to remind you of the flash bangs and gun shots at night during the war. The sound of it started to fill your head and your breathing started to race. You looked up in search of something to distract you from your flashbacks. 

There you saw it, the huge poster plastered on the front of the theater. A picture of Steve standing side by side with you and Bucky. It made you three look heroic and strong. You were still happy back then, you could barely recognize yourself. You sighed and looked down at the ground as you walked towards the doors of the theater. 

After a few pictures and short interviews it was finally time for the movie. You were sat in between Peggy and Howard. The showroom was packed with chattering people dying to know about the lives of the troublesome trio. Anxiety washed over you, because you weren’t really sure what to expect. You had talked to the directors and agreed to not censor anything out. You thought it would be good if people got to see the real stuff and realize that war isn’t just entertainment, it’s real and people lose their lives. So this means for you that anything that is personal would be in it, and you weren’t positive if you were ready for people to see you like that. 

The talking of the audience faded away as instrumental music started to play and the title of the movie came on screen. (https://play.spotify.com/track/4V2s08BMEqJWIfa3PcNOpR Captain America - Alan Silvestri) Your heart was racing and you looked over at Peggy who had her attention already on you. She reached her hand over her arm rest and grabbed your shaking hand. You gave her a nervous look and she reassured you that everything would be okay with her loving smile. Everything froze when you heard the familiar laughter and voices of Steve and Bucky. 

You couldn’t tell if you were happy or if your heart was breaking. You haven’t heard their loving voices since the war and you missed it so much. You couldn’t stop smiling when you saw the three of you laughing on screen together.

image  
Originally posted by winterscap

 

“Okay let’s start from the beginning, all you have to do is say your names”, a voice off screen said. The three of you took a deep breath and tried to take this seriously. 

Steve was the first to talk. “Hello, my name is Steve Rogers”, he said with his Captain America tone.

“Name’s James Barnes”, Bucky said casually.

“I’m (Y/N) (L/N)”, your tone was calm but confident.

“So how long have you three been together?”, asked the director.

“We’ve been pals since 1934”, Bucky said and put an arm around both yours and Steve’s shoulder. 

“So that means 10 years”, you pitched in.

“Yeah Bucky here isn’t very good at math so that’s why he didn’t give you an exact number”, Steve said jokingly.

“Aye you liar, I taught you calculus punk”, Bucky punched Steve in the arm but only ended up hurting his own hand.

The three of you burst out into laughter and the screen changed. There was a lot of clips of fighting and all the training that was done as your camp moved around. You really enjoyed all the goofy parts that Bucky had filmed. 

~~

Your favorite one was when Bucky had brought the camera to the beach when you had a free day; it was just Steve, Buck, and you. You remembered how warm the sun felt on your skin and how the ocean breeze blew your hair around and the scent of salt lingered in the air. Bucky zoomed in on your face and you looked as beautiful as ever. You had no make-up on and the smile that spread across your face was natural. The sun behind you gave you this angelic look that if Bucky was watching this he would be head over heels thanking the heavens for having an angel like you in his life.

image  
“Bucky put that thing down and come into the water”, you said to him.

“Alright Alright, you look beautiful today, did you know that?”, his voice faded out as the screen changed again.

You would be lying if you said that you weren’t completely blushing from that.

Bucky was standing alone on screen and the director asked him, “Would you do anything to protect Steve and (Y/N)?”

Just then in the background you heard a door open and your voice, “oh hey, sorry I didn’t know you were doing an interview”, then the sound of the door closing again.

Bucky’s eyes followed you as you left and he tried to hide his smile. “Yeah I would, I love those two more than anything in the world.”

image  
“Do you think you three will be together for the rest of your lives?”, the man asked another question.

Bucky put a hand through his hair, “Well that’s the plan. You never know with the war, but I’ve got high hopes.”

Now Steve was on screen.

“Is it true that (Y/n) saved your butt in an alley the first day you met?”, you could hear the smirk in the interviewer’s voice.

Steve crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders awkwardly as he tried not to admit it. “Wellllll, I wasn’t asking for help….. but yeah she did.”

image  
“Why did you always pick a fight Captain Rogers?”

“Just call me Steve, and I wasn’t looking for a fight but if I see an individual bullying somebody else, you better believe I’m going to be throwing some fists. See the thing is I don’t like bullies, I don’t care where they come from.”

“Wow that’s very righteous of you Captain”, you came into frame of the camera with your arms crossed.

Steve rolled his eyes with a grin, “Now who invited this trouble maker?” 

Without warning he grabbed you and pulled you into his arms. You thought he was going for a hug but he actually attacked you with tickles. You went into a fit of laughter as you tried to pull Steve’s hands away from your sides.

~~

Watching that really hit you hard. You put up as much of a fight as you could but that scene completely broke you. Honestly you had tears in your eyes the entire time while watching the movie. You decided to look back at the screen.

~~

You were breathing heavy and trying to calm down from laughing so hard. Steve then kissed your cheek and whispered “I love you.” It was just loud enough to be heard on the camera.

~~

You couldn’t take it anymore, you had to leave before you had a huge breakdown. A sob was held back as you quickly got up from your seat. Everybody’s attention turned to you, and you could feel their eyes burning through you. 

A tear fell down your cheek as you saw everyone staring at you. Both Howard and Peggy grabbed you to stay but you just looked at them sadly and said, “I can’t do this.”

You got out of there as quickly as you could. Right when you got outside you let everything out. Your body leaned against a wall as you tried to get in a full breath of air. You were crying uncontrollably and all you could do was gasp. You were too busy focusing on not dying that you didn’t notice a few reporters outside. Only when a flash of light blinded you did you notice them. You were frozen in place as they continued to take pictures of you in your flustered state.

A few came up to you and were asking if you were okay. All you could do was stare at them as you tried to think of a way out. Your car that you came in rolled up at the end of the red carpet, and you didn’t waste a second to get away. You ran towards it and never looked back. 

image  
You got into the car as fast as possible and when you sat down you put your face in your hands. You really thought you could do this, maybe you weren’t as strong as you thought.


	28. Chapter 28

The feeling of sadness has drained you of energy for months, but today would be a new beginning for you. You have officially moved on and become content with where you were at. Now you haven’t forgotten your dear friends but you were no longer going to be upset about their passings. It was time to be happy for once. You have come very far, and the experiences have only made you stronger as a person. 

You had Peggy and Howard to keep you company and of course you couldn’t forget about Jarvis. Honestly, you have come quite attracted to Howard. You hated yourself for falling for such troublemaker, but he understood you. He was always there, so when the time came for marriage, you could definitely see yourself with him.

The past few months have been hectic and busy. You had started going on missions with Peggy for Howard. You haven’t had that much fun since the missions with the commandos, so it was nice to keep yourself working so you didn’t have any time to grieve or sulk to yourself. After a few years you kind of got used to the absence of Steve and Bucky, and you had finally come to acceptance. 

It was time to transport all the stolen weapons that Hydra had taken from Howard during the war. You were on a train somewhere near the border of Russia. Honestly, the name of the area was too hard for you to say, and even remember. You had agreed to go on the trip with Howard and some guards, to make sure everything went smoothly.

Your eyes followed the landscape of the trees and snowy hills as you looked out the window. Howard was sitting across from you writing down in a journal. He tapped the tip of his pen on the table as he stared at you in thought. You were absentmindedly playing with your locket again as you zoned out. The trees had just turned into blurry lines as you stopped moving your eyes along with them.

“You know I should buy myself a train”, Howard said as he started to tap his pencil on his lip.

You looked at him and scoffed. “Yeah? And what are you going to do with that?”, you said with a little laugh.

“Use it of course! I could have my own transportation business. Stark Industry takes on more than just cars”, he said in an announcer voice.

“What will make yours better than any other train?’, you asked. You leaned back into your seat and crossed your arms waiting for his explanation.

“Well….. you see…”, quickly he pulled you up from your seat and started to slow dance with you in the middle of the empty aisle. “I could put a dance floor right here, so we could have more room to dance.”

You blushed and smiled at his flirtatious act. “Now what makes you think I would want to dance with you?”, you said mischievously.

“You’re dancing with me now, are you not?”, he said smoothly.

“Oh boy you got me there”, you laughed.

You both were just talking about anything, trying to make the train ride pass by faster. “So if you were to have a child what would you name him or her?”, Howard asked. 

Your mouth scrunched up to one side as you looked up in thought. “Hmmmm not sure, maybe after Steve or Bucky. But if I were to be original maybe Anthony.”

“Oh Anthony is a nice one. How about Anthony Howard Stark? Has a nice ring to it right?”

You laughed, “Hey you can’t steal the name I was going to use!”

“I’ll do what I want”, Howard said jokingly.

You were about to playfully smack him, but there was a large bang at the back of the train that pulled your attention away from Howard. You turned your head around, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. You looked back at Howard with worry and confusion. Quickly you grabbed a pistol that was in your coat pocket, and brought it out ready to shoot at any attacker. 

You crept closer to the door that connected the cart to the other one. Before opening the door you paused to see if you could hear anything on the other side. There was no sound, so you went to put your hand on the handle of the door. Right when you were about to open it the door was blown off of its hinges and you fell with it. 

Your body slammed against the hard floor and the heavy door landed right on top of you. At that moment Hydra agents piled into the room. Your head was pounding and your body had no intentions of getting up.

Howard ran to you and pulled the door off of you. The guards who came with you guys came into the room, and all hell broke loose. There were guns being fired everywhere while Howard tugged you to a cover spot. 

Your vision was blurred and you felt dizzy. You didn’t really comprehend what was going on but you knew it wasn’t good. 

“(Y/N) are you okay?!”, Howard asked you frantically. 

You blinked a few times to clear your eyesight, “Uh yeah I think.” You peaked your head around the corner of your cover to see what was happening. There were currently 6 agents in the cart who were threats, but who knew how many were just waiting to swarm in. Trying to take action you joined in the gunfight.

“Howard you need to go make sure the weapons get locked down, they can’t fall into the hands of Hydra again” , you yelled over the gun shots.

“How? My control pad is over there!” Your eyes followed to where Howard was looking, and there it was. The controller had the ability to lock down the entry doors to each cart and it was sitting on a table that was on the opposite side of the room. You didn’t need to say anything for Howard to know what you were about to do. “No”, he warned.

You just smirked and lept forward out of your spot. You did a summersault as you rolled under the table, but right before you got cover again, you grabbed the control panel mid tumble. Your chest let out a breath that you didn’t even know that you were holding.

Howard had a shocked expression on his face as he realized you did that successfully. Honestly, he should know better than to doubt you anymore. You slid the box across the floor to Howard, and reloaded your pistol. 

Howard locked down the cart through the panel, and the gun fight seemed to be over. All the Hydra agents seemed to be taken out and s bead of sweat dripped down your temple as you sighed in relief. Your heart was still pounding from the adrenaline and you checked your body just to make sure you hadn’t gotten hit. Thankfully you got out of that one unscathed.

Howard and you went and did checks to the last few carts of the train while the other guards did the first few. You were on edge the whole time, but you kept your composure. You had finally made your way to the very last cart, which was empty.

“Well that was sketchy. Why did Hydra only send 6? Do you think there will be a next wave of them?”, you asked as you opened up the door that led to a little balcony outside. Cold air rushed in and some snowflakes blew inside. 

“Yeah that was a little weird, I’m going to be right back to see what the others have to report.” Howard left and you were there alone. Maybe it was a dumb idea to split up like that, but you seemed to be in the clear. 

You were about to step outside when a pair of boots connected with your chest. You slammed onto the ground and all the wind was knocked out of you. Of course the same thing had to happen to you twice. Your body was really taking a beating but it was nothing you couldn’t handle. 

Your eyes were squeezed closed as you fell, but when you opened your eyes you weren’t sure if what you were seeing was your imagination or real. In the doorway stood a built man with hair that hung past his eyes. He had a black mask that covered half his face, but the most shocking thing was his arm. His left arm seemed to be completely metal, and there were so many plates in it that all fit together perfectly. 

Quickly you aimed your gun at his silhouette and fired, but the bullets were deflected with his metal arm. 

He sauntered over to you and picked you up by your throat. You gasped for air and tried to get him to release you, but his metal arm was invincible. At the last second you remembered your knife that was in your boot. You swiftly pulled it out and jabbed it into his muscle right below his collarbone. He let go of you and that gave you enough time to catch your breath and think of your next move.

Maybe some hand to hand combat. He blocked all your moves and he even seemed to be able to predict your next ones. He had some critical hits on you and you were becoming weak. The only idea you had that would keep everyone else on this train safe was to just run him right off of it. You had never been up against some one this well trained in combat, and you were running out of time and ideas. You used all your strength to push through him. 

The masked man wasn’t expecting such a bold move from you and fell back with you. You pushed with all your might and successfully got him outside. Just before you were about to come into contact with the railing on the balcony Howard came back. 

“(Y/N) NO!”, Howard shouted. 

You heard his shouts but you couldn’t stop now. The wooden railing broke against the assailants back making you two fall onto the tracks. With an impact that hard you for sure thought you had broken every bone in your body. You shut your eyes and hoped for the best as you tumbled on the ground. 

~~

Howard couldn’t believe you would do something that reckless! He ran right after you but stopped right at the edge of the balcony. The snow had picked up and he couldn’t see anything 10 feet infront of him, so in seconds you were gone out of his sight. Angry tears fell down his face, because he knew he could have prevented this from happening. He slammed his fist against the broken railing. He was so frustrated with himself, there were so many ways that he could have kept you safe and he didn’t. He sat down on the snowy ground and cried. There was something metal that caught his eyes. He picked it up out of the snow and realized it was your locket that Steve and Bucky gave you. The situation was heart breaking, he wasn’t going to give up on looking for you until he had you back. He tucked the necklace into his coat pocket intending to give it to Peggy when he got back and just stared out into the blizzard like snowstorm.

~~

You woke up in shock as you heard people talking. Before you realized where you were, you were thrown into a dark room. You fell onto your stomach and groaned at your aching body. The left over serum that was injected into you kept you from getting majorly injured, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t feel like shit after taking a beating. The room was cold and the floor was rock hard. You tried to push yourself up to observe your surroundings, but your arms shook so much that they ended up giving out. Once again you collapsed onto the floor feeling completely helpless. Your eyes had adjusted to the darkness and you realized you weren’t alone in the room. 

Moon light was being reflected off of the man with the metal arm. “Where am I?”, you asked to anyone willing to answer. Of course there was no reply. You helplessly cried. Why did you do this to yourself, you should have just waited for backup or something. Now here you were not knowing where you were, lying on the cold, hard ground in pain.

“(Y/n), there is no need to cry”, a very familiar German accented voice said.

“How do you know my name? Where am I?”, you croaked out.

Then the big metal door behind you creaked open, revealing Dr. Zola. You were completely shocked to see him again, you had made sure he was locked away, how did he get out?

“How are you out of prison?!”, you asked in anger.

“Now there is no need to be hostile, but that is a story for another time. I have a special someone for you to meet.” He had an evil smirk on his face as he looked at your attacker who was sitting in the dark corner of the room. “Winter come meet an old friend”, he beckoned.

The man got up and he no longer had his mask on. His facial features were illuminated in the dim light but you could recognize that face anywhere. The ice blue eyes, that you remembered waking up to everyday. Those cheek bones that you always ran your fingers over.

It felt like your heart stopped beating, and tears continued to fall down your cheeks. Were your eyes messing with you again or was this real. You rubbed your hands against your tear filled eyes to make sure you weren’t hallucinating. This was just impossible but you forced yourself up. The pain that ran through your body was not going to stop you from finding out who this man really was. You limped over to the man to get a closer look; the closer you got the more you knew for sure that this was him. It was actually him. You had to say it out loud just to see if this was real. In a weak voice you nervously asked, “Bucky?...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooo much for taking your time to read my story!!


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